The Coven's Circle
by Gardenia Queen
Summary: Almost 18 yo Emma moves to Storybrooke. Soon she'll age out of the system; till then she'll have to hide her abilities to avoid beeing sent away. Her teacher Regina seems able to see there is more in her while Emma struggle with friendship and family. The town has secrets & a threat is coming from the outside. Love isn't the only powerful magic. Teacher/Student with a Wiccan twist.
1. Small New Town & Dangerous Gift

**A/N :** **Hey there! So it was my birthday and I decided to give myself a gift; posting the first chapter of this fic that I hold so much hope for; I also posted it on AO3 as Gardenia Queen also.**  
 **This isn't Beta-ed and so the mistakes are all mine; I must say sorry for those since English isn't my first language.**  
 **Nothing belongs to me; Even if I wish it would (because we could all fix this clusterfuck together and make SQ canon, right?). I only use the character to stay entertained and to further plots I have in my mind.**  
 **I already have 17k words written for this story and I am not even yet in the core of the plot; so we'll see where this ride take us, even if the outline of the story is nearly finished. I hope you'll stick with me trough the bumpy ride and enjoy the story I will tell.**

 **Also, this is a Teacher/Student semi slowburn story with a big plot twist; because they are no ordinary teacher and student; what could Emma be hiding?**

 **Enjoy!**

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The new town wasn't so bad, after a month living in, Emma thought. Well, it was small, a far cry from the big cities houses she was used to, but at least, it had already been a month and they hadn't sent her back. Of course, she knew she was closed off, rebel and hard to understand, but after a hard start in life, like she had had, and her little… difference, well, who could really blame her? It was her 16th foster family, and probably her last, too. In two months' time, she would be 18, and she could finish her high school year, or leave this godforsaken town behind, keeping her secret safe. David and his wife, Mary-Margaret had told her that she could stay in their home for as long as she wanted, even after she became of age. It was a sweet offer, even more because it was made by foster parents who knew nothing about her, but she wasn't sure if she'd stay. She'd still have to hide her… abilities, which usually freaked people. It was the thing keeping her from staying too long in one place.

Well, in the first month she was in Storybrooke, 2254 living souls, Maine, she had come across people of her age; she almost befriended them. At least, she hang out with them, at the dinner, Granny's, where Ruby was working for her, well, granny. She was the waitress, in _barely there_ outfits, and flirted with almost everyone. That was how Emma came to talk with the brunette first. She had been flirted with and had answered in kind, not phased at all, making Ruby laugh and introduce herself. Emma had the curtesy to give her a half-smile, and the girl seemed to take her under her wing. When the door opened few minutes later and that other young persons entered, Ruby made them sit beside her and introduce themselves. Lily was a tall brunette, who seemed to be half Latina, with dark hair and dark eyes, but a kind smile. Tink, whose real name was Tina, but preferred to go by Tink, was a tiny blonde with sparkling eyes, who seemed to be unable to tore her eyes off of Neal, the last of the gang. He was sweet, in a charming kind of way, but with one look in his eyes, Emma knew he was the one making the trouble. She knew the look, and smiled at him, a real smile.

"So, this is Emma, she moved not long ago in town, with David and Mary-Margaret. She'll start her senior year this year, with us." Ruby said, after they all presented themselves.

"Great! We can go out all of us, sometimes! Well, you know, before summer ends." Added Lily.

So they did, and Emma could say she had made friends, and it was kind of a first in her life. Usually she stayed in her corner until she was moved, again, after being treated as a freak, but this time, they had come to her and included her. Oh, it felt good, even amazing, and that made her wanting to stay more and more. So she slowly tried to bond with her foster parents and it was good. They had come to an understanding, and that was ok for all of the family.

August passed fast, with movie outings, shopping spree, or just late night talks, and sometime, when one of them was able to sneak out booze, they drank, or just talked in the park, while looking at the stars. Emma was pleased and happy, as she never had been before. It was like she had found her place. Her secret hadn't been revealed, and she had managed to hide the outbursts she produced unnoticed. The townspeople didn't seem to mind, either way. It was like something in the air helped her to control _it_.

She learned that Neal had a step-sister, going by Ariel, whom was two years younger than them, so had less freedom than him, but that she was going to school with them. Emma would meet her then.

The summer gave way to fall, and September came soon enough. Emma had had a lot of fun with her new friends, and she never felt pressured to talk about herself, one of the thing she hated the most. She knew she had to reveal a bit of herself, but she couldn't tell nobody about her biggest secret, the thing she absolutely loathed as it made her different, it made her a _monster_ , as they used to call her. It wasn't natural. There was only one thing strange with her friends tough; they never exclaimed with "God!" but rather used "Goddess" and it made Emma curious. Still she didn't ask, just like she didn't tell. They would talk to her in time if needed. Until, she understood the need for privacy on some things, and that never made her feel out of place.

The first day of school didn't made her nervous like it used to. Maybe it was because she now knew people, and won't be all alone as she used to, maybe just the idea of a family caring enough to make her a lunch and buying her school furniture, new ones at that, was enough to pull her in a happy mood, or maybe it was because she knew it was her last year of high school. She didn't knew, but the warm feeling she was having was great, and so Emma walked to school with a smile plastered on her face. At least, she wasn't late, and when she entered the court of the school, she saw her friends sitting around a table, and went to them as fast as she could.

"So how does it works here?" Emma said, in lieu of greeting.

"Well, hello there, you, beautiful stranger!" Lily chirped, causing an uproar of laughter around the table.

"Ha ha, Lily." She felt the need to answer sarcastically.

Emma got an answer from a petite redhead, who looked shy enough, but with a genuine smile.

"To get your classes, you have to go to the secretary, she'll gave you your schedule, your assigned teacher for achievement, and an agenda for the school year to write your homework."

"Oh, thanks, hum…" Emma had never seen the girl, and she didn't want to assume who was the girl.

"Ariel, I'm Ariel." The girl answered at the unspoken question.

"Oh, Neal's sister! Nice to meet you! I'm Emma."

"Yes, I know. Neal can't shut up about you. I swear he got the biggest crush on you ever." Ariel added. She saw the punch coming from her brother, but before she could move away from the hit, he was too near, and his fist landed on her arm. "Ouch!"

"That'll taught you to shut up. I don't have a crush." Neal grumbled. The group cackled.

Emma was fidgeting, a pink hue tinting her cheeks. She cleared her throat, and pointed towards the entrance. "Hum, I… I have to go get my schedule, see ya later!"

"Bye!" and "Later!" were thrown at her back, and she almost ran for the school doors. It wasn't that she didn't liked the attention that Neal was giving her, but she had secrets that she had never told nobody, as the fact she was only into girls, and so, nothing could come of Neal's crush. In her hurry, she never noticed someone else in front of her, and slammed into a warm body, sending a flurry of papers everywhere. She heard snickers behind her but paid them no mind, too busy apologizing. When she lifted her eyes to see just who she had slammed into, her breath catch, and her heart stopped.

In front of her was the most stunning woman she had ever seen. Her origins were more defined than Lily's, the Latina clear in her features, with her olive-tinted skin, seemingly sun kissed. Her eyes were a clear brown, and her dark hair gave her a beautiful figure, complimenting her. Her lips were full, and her perfection was only marred by a small scar on her upper lip, making her look human, or at least less ethereal, and more approachable.

Oh, Emma knew the second she swept her eyes over that woman that there would never be anyone else to compare to her beauty.

And so, her mussing started, about love at first sight. Could it be?

Well, the answers weren't coming and she had to stop gaping like a fool at the beautiful woman, and at least help her for the mess she had made by slamming, quite literally, into her. So the blonde crouched on the floor and started to scoop up the papers scattered everywhere on the pavement, before they caught in a squall of wind.

After a few seconds, the brunette joined her in scooping the papers.

"I think we got them all. Again, I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." Emma looked in the other woman eyes while repeating her apology.

The crimson lips parted, forming a small, shy smile, showing a hint of pearly teeth.

"Don't fret, it's alright, dear. I'm Regina Mills." She said, gripping the papers in one arm, extending the other as an invitation to shake hands.

"I'm Emma Swan." She said, while taking the proffered hand. Heat ran in Emma's body at the contact, and she looked at Regina, puzzled, but she was unfazed, and so the blonde tried to forget her weird body reaction. It was nothing, wasn't it?

"Well, Emma Swan," At her name, tumbling from Regina's lips, she shivered. "What were you about to do that was so important that you forgot to look where you were going?"

"Oh! Hum, yes, right! I was about to go to the secretary's office to get my schedule." Emma stuttered, trying to clear her head from the effect the woman had on her.

"Oh, so you are a student, I wondered. I've never seen you around before." The sentence was spoken clearly enough to know it was a question.

"No, I moved a month ago." Was the clipped, short answer. Emma wasn't one to reveal herself. It was the first step to getting hurt. She preferred to keep to herself.

Regina made a small movement with her head, toward the door, as to say to get moving, and so their conversation went on while they were walking.

"Right. So you are new around here. How do you like the town so far?" The brunette demanded.

"It's cozy and warm, but, well, you don't have a lot to do except hanging in the park and at

Granny's. At least people are nice from what I have seen." There was not a lot to say, for Emma.

What could have she added? It wasn't like this was her hometown. She never had had a home.

"Yes, at least there's that." Regina replied, taking Emma out of her thoughts.

"And are you a teacher here?"

"Yes, I am. I teach History classes for all years and literature for 12th grade." Regina told her, with a small smile. "I also have some charges to help with achievements." She smirked at that, and it almost made Emma's knee buckle. Damn, it was sexy. And, it seemed that the teacher knew things that she didn't. "Here we are, Miss Swan. I'll see you in class." It was the last comment from the brunette before she walked past the door beside the secretary's desk. Probably the teachers' room.

With a heavy sight, Emma walked to the desk and cleared her throat to get the attention of the woman sat behind.

A kind looking woman was sitting behind, and her eyes were so open and clear, it was startling.

"What can I do for you, sweetie?" She asked.

"Hum, I am new and well, they told me to come her to get my schedule."

"Oh! Yes! You are at the right place. What's your name?" The secretary asked.

"Emma Swan." She said, while looking at the name card placed on the desk. Nova McFly was written. So she was related to Tink, who went by Tina McFly also. Well, good to know. She tapped her fingers on the desk quietly, awaiting her class schedule, printing. Her other hand cradled her head, lost in her thoughts of the beautiful brunette she had just met, and so she jumped when Nova placed the schedule and an agenda in front of her.

"So, here it is. Classes start at 9 in the morning, and the lunch break is between noon and one PM. The last class ends at 4 PM, and every Wednesdays, your period before lunch is replaced with a meeting with your assigned teacher for achievements, we shorten the name to ATA. It's easier." Nova said, pointing different areas in her schedule, almost too fast for Emma to register the information. Well, at least she had tried. "As you can see here, your ATA is Miss Mills." At that name, Emma snapped to attention. So she would have days where she would meet the beautiful woman three times. It was wonderful. "This is your agenda provided by the school, so make good use of it, and there is your student card. Is it alright?"

At the onslaught of information, Emma could only nod.

"Alright. If you need anything else, let me know." Nova finally said.

"Thanks, have a nice day!" Emma called over her shoulder, while leaving the small office.

Emma made her way back outside. There was still fifteen minutes until the classes started, minutes that she spent trying to memorize her classes.

At nine, she started with managements and maths, with Mr. Robin Locksley, at ten, Biology, with Mrs. Marian Locksley, at eleven, except on Wednesday, she had basketball, with Mr. August Booth, then at noon, lunch. At one, she had art, with Miss Aurora Rose, and, finally, finally, Emma thought, at two, she had history with Miss Regina Mills, and at three, literature, with the same teacher.

The blonde was happy. She had two period, one after the other with the brunette she ran into, every day. Her heart was beating wildly, and she wondered why. She couldn't be in love after one conversation, now could she? Even if the teacher's voice was like silk, her presence was commanding and her posture almost regal, she couldn't have fallen for her. Emma never did with feelings, and it wasn't about to change because of a stupid crush on a teacher. It would go. It was just a crush on a beautiful woman.

Her first day came and went fast, nothing out of the ordinary. There were teachers presenting themselves, and then, the students did too, with their favorite color, or if they had a pet or not, that type of thing, innocent enough. Once it was done, the syllabus for the year was presented, and the class often ended with a test to see the level of the class or the beginning of lessons.

Emma spent her lunch break with her newfound friends, laughing, and eating her lunch that Mary-Margaret had carefully prepared for her that morning. It was sweet and Emma was grateful for that small act. Someone, for once, seemed to care. Why that family hadn't come earlier in her life? It could have avoided her some heartache, and some painfully earned scars, physical and mental ones.

She could only live now, and so she used the time she had with her friends to have fun.

When the time came for her periods with Miss Mills, Emma couldn't stop her heart from beating loudly in her chest. At least she had all of her friends with her in all of her classes, except basket, since it was a free choice, and so, she didn't had to confront her brunette teacher alone once again. The time for that would come soon enough, tough. Wednesday, she knew.

At least, for now, she had a support system.

When the teacher opened the door, she stood there, making the students getting in the class one by one; taking their presence at the same time. Ruby went in first, and after the greeting of "Miss Lucas" that she received from Regina, she got in the class and saw the sheet on the front desk. A groan escaped her.

"Really, Miss Mills? A seating chart?"

"I do believe so, Miss Lucas. Can you go on a take your seat, now?" Replied the teacher.

"Yeah." The teen grumbled, seemingly less than pleased by the concept.

The students slowly made their way in the classroom, and took their assigned place. Emma was the last one to come over the entrance of the classroom.

"And finally, Miss Swan." The teacher almost purred, sending a shiver trough the blonde's spine.

"Please be a dear and close the door behind you." She added, as an afterthought, walking to her desk.

She was seated in the center and in the front, making her really near the teacher's desk, or, well, rather near Regina's shapely curves when she was writing on the board. Emma almost groaned, thinking that the year would be hell to go through with this sinful view.

The history class went pretty well, and Emma was happy to see that the year curriculum in that class was about real history, not only US history. They will go through everything, and talk in depth about beliefs, sects, and religions in the time mentality. It was original, and Emma was eager to start to learn. Maybe she could also make research in the class projects to get to know about her problem. Maybe it had an historical explanation.

The literature class, on the other hand, would seemingly take a lot of work for Emma. Oh, she wasn't good to analyse fairytales, even just read them was a hard task because she had never believed in happy ending and all of that bullshit. Maybe the original versions would be better, and the analysis to do between the modern ones and the original ones would be funny to do. It was still a great idea of curriculum, a new concept, while staying focused on the important part; learning about literature.

The class ended with an assignment for the end of the week; Miss Mills asked them to compare their life to a fairytale and explain why. It made Emma squirm. She wasn't one to talk about herself, and it made her wary of what was to come. If she could avoid talking about herself…

The essay she gave her teacher at the end of the week wasn't a deep reflection. Oh, of course, Emma had put thought in the writing, but still, the only fairytale that was near enough of her life was Cinderella; because the princess had lost both of her parents and was abused by people who were supposed to take care of her, just like the blonde. Alas, Emma never had a fairy godmother, fell for a prince and lived happily ever after. And, so, she wrote about the idea of the perfect life that all of the princesses to-be were living, with loving parents, and a prince who, in the end would sweep them off of their feet, that it was a thing that she could never in a hundred years relate with herself. Emma went on, about the fact that she did not need a prince, or even a man, to do that for her, but a woman could be a better option; and that happily ever after weren't real, because life was asking of you to fight every day and make your own path, and beat what people liked to call faith. There is no such thing as destiny, for Emma. She would be her own savior, and have a Queen at her arm.

The first month of school went by, lulling the students in a familiar routine. Emma was glad that the town was peaceful; it helped her concentrate on her studies and taking time to bond with her friends and her foster family. A kind of contentment had settled over her. It wasn't a complete happiness, she knew it could never be, with the weight that she carried on her shoulders, but it was enough, and she felt that she belonged, for once, somewhere.

Her crush on Miss Mills hadn't gone; it even seemed to grow, and it was hard to keep her eyes and her mind away from her teacher. But nothing good could come out of an infatuation, even if Regina was… affectionate with her. She was a teacher, and so, it was ok to be there for her students if they needed her. The worst was her private meetings with her, as her ATA, every Wednesday, because it was like counselling sessions, but for school attendance, projects and future, tree things Emma wasn't fond of. Of course, those meetings could be about more personal issues if she wanted to, but, well, the blonde was private, and so, professional was the best way to go for them.

Still, it never deterred Regina to ask after her student and try to get glimpses of the girl that was hiding behind the walls. She knew they were in place to help her protect herself, and that spoke of a life of hardship in itself. But the teacher, meeting after meetings, class after class, tried to lower them. Something was oddly appealing about the blonde for her, and she needed a connection to her. So she put the efforts to try to gain Emma's trust.

As October came around, Emma made a decision that would probably change everything, and it was time to tell the family who had taken her in and had made a fine job at taking care of her. The second day of the month, she asked for Mary-Margaret and David to sit at the table for dinner.

"So," Emma started, after emptying her plate. She couldn't stop from fidgeting. There was still a real possibility that her decision would be rejected. "My birthday is coming up. I thought about your offer to finish school here, and well, I think I fit in, so, if the offer still stand, I'd like to stay, at least to finish my school year."

Both adults looked at her with big eyes, and once her words registered, Mary-Margaret almost flung herself at Emma to hug her.

"Yes, of course you can stay! We would be happy to keep you with us." The pixie-haired woman almost squealed. "You already know that we consider you as a part of our family. We had since you set a foot in the house."

David was smiling serenely at her, and Emma let out a breath in relief.

"Thanks," The blonde added, once the brunette detangled herself from Emma's arms, who had accepted warily the physical contact. "And, well, since I'll be of age in less than a month, I can find a job, and I can start to pay a rent, if you want-"

Emma's rambling was cut short by the blonde man, who used his authoritative police officer voice.

"Emma. We don't want or need your money. You are part of the family as Mary told you. This is your home now, too."

Tears pooled in the corner of Emma eyes. It was nice, this new concept. "Home. I have a home."

"Yes, sweetie, you do." The brunette said, softly, with a soft smile on her face.

They seemed to understand her struggle, genuinely. Emma had been so long without something to call her home, a safe place, had gone all her life without people caring enough. It was time for her to start to heal her broken wings, and learn to fly. She now had a family, not her biological parents, but still, these two wanted her, and it was more than what she was used to.

A movie night was in order to celebrate the big news.

Going to bed that evening, Emma used her gift, and knew that now, she'd have to conceal it as best as she could. She couldn't lose this last chance at a family because she was a freak. She closed her hands in fists, digging her nails in her palms until sleep claimed her and her hands went limp.

It was already the first history test, to see if the theory had been well studied, before the start of the first major project about historical injustices. The project was fairly simple, and they could team up in groups of four or five. Of course, Emma had been picked in the troublemakers' team. She was one of them now. Well, not that she was doing any trouble, but she was their friend, and they all stick together, except Friday night, when they all had somewhere to be.

Well. It wasn't a bother since her foster parents were also out every Fridays. She had her suspicions about date night, and she wasn't about to get in their way. If it was what they needed to keep their love strong, Emma was alright with that.

When 2 o'clock came around, the blonde remembered that she hadn't studied the previous evening, because of her announcement and the late night movies that ensued to celebrate, so she wasn't sure if she could do it. She didn't wanted to fail her first test, and even more, she wanted to impress her teacher, to prove her that she was a good student, that she was worthy.

She slowly made her way to her desk in silence and picked a pencil from her bag. Her fingers twitched nervously on the hard surface, making a regular sound when the pencil hit the desk, and her leg bounced nervously. She tried to remember the lessons she had taken notes from, and make a mental rerun of them, without success. Her mind seemed empty, and she was freaking out. She had to remember some of the things she had learned! Oh, she was so screwed.

Regina closed the classroom door and walked until she was in front of the class. "You got the hour to answer the exam. I want nothing else than a pencil and an eraser on your desk. If I even see a glimpse of a cellphone, you fail the test, I won't even bother to correct it. It's only an exam. People who loved you before will still love you after, regardless of the outcome. Good luck."

And with that, she sat at her desk, and the rustling of sheets resonated in the classroom. Emma turned the exam and wrote her name on the line.

And she read the questions.

She was screwed.

She didn't seemed to remember a thing they had seen in class, and she started to panic, staring at the questions. The blonde was so focused trying to remember something that she didn't see the hour ticking by. When she lifted her head to look at the clock, she saw there was only half an hour left to answer the quiz, and she had no idea where to start.

She was defeated, and angry at herself, until she felt the stirring inside of her.

Oh, everything wasn't lost yet. She had sworn to not use her gift, but desperate times called for desperate measures, right?

Once she made sure that none of her classmates were watching, she closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, calling for the warmth she held at bay inside of her. She never knew how it worked, but she willed the force to do her bidding for once, moving it to her fingertips, and into the pencil. It felt like hot water ran in her veins, and the feeling was comforting, was one of completion. She smiled serenely, never noticing the brown pair of eyes widening at the manipulation of her power.

Regina had _felt_ the power moving and shifting in the classroom, the air becoming thicker, and the smell changing to a sweeter one. She eyed her students and her protégés, but the raw power didn't seemed to arise from any of them. So, it wasn't a late bloomer that she hadn't seen before, from one of the families. Then, her eyes fell on Miss Swan, and she saw the glow surrounding her, and the peaceful contentment slipping slowly over her features. She seemed even more beautiful like that, as if she had received everything. She probably did, with the strength of the magic the girl exuded.

The power was so raw and unrefined, like it poured from a too long concealing. At least, Regina was the only one able to see it in the classroom. It wouldn't do to have her protégés see it. The girl was probably afraid of her outbursts, and seemingly had no practice or no knowledge where it came from. Well. Regina would have to correct that, but would have to find a way to talk to the girl about it without freaking her out and making her run. So, inviting her Friday wasn't the greatest idea yet. She had to be slowly eased into the idea that she wasn't alone of her kind.

Repressed power often came from fear; mortals were usually quick to judge anything that they didn't understood, too harshly. If the girl had been alone, well, she never had anyone to help her harvest her powers the way it should have been and to use it in the good way. She would have to tell her coven about the girl.

When the hour was up, Regina rose from behind her desk and told the students to put down their pencils and to turn face down their exam before leaving. The lit class was to use as free time to do homework and team projects due in a couple of weeks. Clutters of pencils, rustling of sheets and screeching of chairs moving on the linoleum filled the previously silent classroom, and students started to leave, chatting excitedly about the answers they had written down to compare. Before Emma was able to get out of the classroom, she heard the silky voice of her teacher calling for her.

"Miss Swan, would you please stay behind a few minutes? I need to talk to you."

"Uh, sure." Answered Emma, a little puzzled. She went back to her desk, put her bag on the floor and sat on the hard surface, legs dangling.

Her teacher waited for the students to leave the classroom, and raised an eyebrow at Ruby's shoot for her "We'll wait for you outside, be wary of the wolf!"

Emma chuckled at her friend antics, and shook her head as Regina moved in front of her own desk, and leaned on her desk, both palms pressed on either side of her body, hips firmly supported on the rim. She eyed Emma curiously, a bit too long to be casual, and the blonde squirmed and fidgeted under the scrutiny.

"What?" The student said, suddenly uncomfortable. It was like the brunette was reading into her soul, watching her like that. It was frightening. And the fact that she was so damn near was making the butterfly stir in Emma's belly. Her unique smell, probably a sweet perfume was so enticing, the blonde had to grip the edges of the desk to stop herself from doing something foolish like hoping off of the desk she sat on, and go kiss Regina without an inch of her life.

Silence engulfed all for a couple of seconds as the staring contact went on; and then, Regina spoke aloud, her gaze unwavering.

"I can't tell you with the door open and unlocked."

Emma's expression became puzzled. Did Miss Mills wanted her to go and close the door for her?

As Emma pondered the question, Regina's right hand raised, and with a simple twist of her wrist the door closed with a loud slam, and locked with a muffled sound.

The blonde eyes widened.

"You… The door… What?" She spluttered.

"I am sorry for the sudden display, but I had to show you or you wouldn't have believed me. You are not the only one with magic, in fact, we are quite a lot in the town."

"Uh?"

The brunette chuckled before extending her explanation.

"We have what we call a coven, or a circle, who met every Friday to practice magic. We are connected to the nature and elements. If you have magic, it means you are from one of the original families, and you can harvest your power to do so much, and always feel the completion you felt earlier when you used it in class."

Emma blushed and ducked her head as if she wanted to hide from a certain shame.

"You could say that you are a witch, as a large definition, but it is much more complicated. There is so much I need to teach you, and I will."

"What? No! I just need to hide it, or they're going to send me back! I am not a freak, or whatever."

"It doesn't make you a 'freak', dear," answered Regina, putting quotation marks with her fingers while saying _freak._ "Those powers are beautiful. As for being sent back, aren't you of age soon enough?"

"Yeah, but still, if they find out, David and Mary-Margaret won't want me to stay with them, and I need a roof."

"Oh! The Charmings are your tutors?"

"The Charmings?" Questioned Emma.

"Sorry, it is the name I gave them. As sweet as Snow White and her prince." Regina snorted at her answer. Well. Mary-Margaret was really as girly and innocent as the character.

"Oh. Then, yes, they are my foster family." Said the blonde, jolting the brunette out of her musings, and back in the conversation.

"Well, it won't be a problem with them; they are part of the coven."

"What? They have powers?" Emma couldn't refrain from asking. It was almost as if all she had learned came crashing down on her, modifying her perceptions by force.

"Yes, they do."

"Oh. Good. So should I tell them?" muttered the blonde, deflating from her previous worries.

"Definitely. Do you have other questions for now?" the teacher inquired.

"Um, what is it we are? A sect who meet every Friday?"

"No. It isn't a sect." Regina explained plainly.

"So what?" Was the knee-jerk answer of Emma.

The silence came back, and green eyes met brown ones, each pair holding the other gaze. Finally, the air thick from tension – the one they seemed to share every time they were near, and even more when they were alone – loosened a bit when the teacher licked her lips before answering.

"Emma, you are a Wiccan."

* * *

 **Wow! You made it here! Hope you enjoyed!**  
 **I have to say that I use the Wicca in my story; simply, the real thing isn't like this; I modified and contorted a bit of some beliefs to fit my story's purpose. Don't be mad at me if everything I tell is not true; I know. I am just writing a story.**  
 **But truly, I am Wiccan and it's such a beautiful spirituality. If it intriges you, I invite you to make research, extended ones, to know what it is about.**  
 **Hope you'll stick aroud for thenext chapter! See y'all!**  
 **-xxx- GQ**


	2. New Magic & Discoveries

**A/N: Hi! First, I have to say that I am really grateful for all of the reactions you gave this story! Wow! Really, I am so glad! Thank you for the lovelies reviews, the follows and the favorites. And to Anon, the Harry Potter reference is really funny, and I hadn't thought about it before haha! As requested, this is the second chapter of The Coven's Circle :) I have finished the third, and I'll try to always stay one chapter ahead at least, so I am going to work on Ch. 4 after posting this ;)**

 **You can find me on tumblr under gardenia-queen.**

 **I still don't own OUaT or anything else, sadly. All mistakes are mine, I am sorry if there is; I am still a french-speaking girl, and as such, far from an English expert!**

 **Hope you like this one too!**

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The silence stretched in the classroom. Regina was giving time to Emma to process, while the blonde tried to understand. She broke the silence first.

"Ok, so I am a wiccan. What does it means?"

Regina exhaled. There hadn't been shouting or breakdown. Of course, the brunette had been ready for every kind of reaction, but this one was the best one in all the possibilities. Of course, explanations would take time, but it was still better than anything else.

"You can see it as a religion. It's more complicated than that and intertwined with spirituality, but the big picture would be that it's about a connection to all the strengths that surrounds you; the nature, the elements, the cycle of life. We meet to honor that and to be able to free our powers completely, but also to connect with our deities'. We get in tune with the forces of nature, and use this knowledge to heal, teach, give and protect all things."

The brunette took a handful of seconds to replace her ideas, and saw that, at the same time, her student was trying to absorb the information.

"The spells and potions that we do involve healing, love, harmony, wisdom and creativity, they can be almost everything as long as they stay in the realm of good, but magic always come with a price, and so, the most important part is the law of three. Everything you do comes back to you by three times, making us strive to do well around us. Otherwise, we have to accept responsibility for our bad actions and deeds, and we can't blame anyone else for the bad things that befall us. We must face the consequences resulting from those actions."

At that, a pained look passed over Regina's features, but got concealed fast behind a more professional mask. Oh, the blonde had seen it, and itched to ask about it, but thought it wiser not to. At least, not now.

"That is why we say that we must stay on the good side, or the bad one could destroy a Wiccan easily if he was to fall in dark magic." She finished.

Once again, the silence stretched between the two. Emma seemed too gobsmacked to say anything. Of course, it was a lot to handle, and she tried to proceed and absorb the onslaught of information she had just been given. It was now her life and she would learn to have control over what she had always feared inside of her. So it was Regina who broke the silence.

"Do you have other questions for now?"

Emma shook her head. She didn't knew what to say. "I… I think I need a little time to proceed."

"Yes, of course. But, before I let you go, I need to know something." Demanded Regina, face cold as stone, but betrayed by her eyes, who seemed full of worry and fear.

Emma felt like she had to prompt her teacher to talk and not wallow in the worry she felt.

"What?" She asked, softly.

"I'd like to have you under my tutelage. You would be my protégé, and I could start to teach you what you should know about magic in private lessons, to help you to get to the knowledge level the others are. Also, I'd introduce you to the circle, outside of our lessons. What do you say?"

At the announcement, Emma's excitement moved over the roof; she couldn't do anything else than answer a chirping "Yes, of course!" with a beaming smile for the brunette.

Regina's shoulders, that seemed so tense while she made the proposition, loosened, and a smile appeared over crimson lips. "Amazing. Tomorrow after class, wait for me. We'll start then."

The blonde moved from over the desk and took her bag from the floor, going for the door, never losing her smile. "Great. I'll see you tomorrow, then. Have a great night!" She said, before getting out of the class, searching for her friends.

Emma's thoughts reined free in her mind, and she seemed to have no control over them; they were frenetic. She couldn't believe her luck that she wasn't alone, and that she would spend more time with Regina, time not about school. That thought made her giddy. She couldn't wait for the next day.

She found Lily, Ruby Tink and Neal in the library, seated in one of the local to do team work. They probably had made a reservation long ago, if the time Ruby seemed to pine after the brunette librarian, Belle, was anything to go by. Oh, Ruby thought that her friends hadn't noticed, but she always had an excuse, as lame as it was, to go to the library as often as possible, and talk to the girl.

Of course, Belle never returned the affections; after all, she was happily wed to the mayor of the town, Neal's father, Richard Gold.

Emma knew that only because Neal had shared it with her in confidence. He thought that his father had placed his step-mother on that job to keep an eye on him. He was a bit of an overprotective father, as the boy explained, since he and Milah, his mother, divorced when he was only a toddler.

Of course, he also had a hard time to trust his ex-wife, and that could be understood, as she eloped with Killian Jones a month after the divorce had been final, and ended up pregnant with Ariel a handful of months after. It seemed as if her previous wedding had meant nothing to her, and had left Mr. Gold quite wary of relationships. And so, Neal was happy for his papa that he had found _the one_.

Emma flung the door of the booth where her friends were, and they all jumped in surprise. The blonde couldn't contain her giggles. It was such a perfect day, and her happiness couldn't be tampered off.

Lily looked at her with eyes as wide as saucers.

"Emma Swan. You are in so much trouble!" She almost growled, and Emma only kept on laughing, harder.

"Yeah, I agree with Lils. You think you are quite funny aren't you?" Tink chirped, as a show of support of her friend. Still, they all had smile on their faces, and Neal looked like he was trying so hard not to laugh too.

"Oh, well. It's not like you had magic power to hear me coming from miles away!" Replied Emma.

The mood shifted in the air, and seemed suddenly tenser. Then chuckles erupted, the ones that fills an uncomfortable silence. As if agreed by all the group suddenly, the subject changed, and Emma took the chair left around the table.

They took an hour to finish their literature project, hour filled with ideas flung around the local, jokes thrown around and a lot of fun.

"So, is anyone hungry?" Announced Ruby, as they finished the project. "Because as much as I'd like to stay with you, I have to go to work. Granny is waiting for me. What about y'all come to eat a little something and hang out?"

A chorus of yes and of course followed the declaration, and they found themselves heading towards Granny's, Emma, the only one with a car, driving them.

They were all seated at the counter, to be near Ruby and be able to chat with her when there was no patrons in the restaurant.

Just as Emma thought she was off the hook about her conversation with the brunette teacher, Ruby came back, and put her elbows on the table, leaning her head in her hands, as a nonchalant posture, and fired her questions.

"So, Em. What did Miss Mills wanted with you?"

"Um…" Emma said, as the other three whipped their heads toward the blonde with questions written all over their face.

"Oooooooh! You talked to the most beautiful, amazing, sexy, gracious, pretty woman who hold your heart, in private?!" Asked Lily, to rise the temper of her friend, who was less restrained when talking under the weight of the anger, and just as a humiliating payback for earlier.

"Shut up, Lily." Said the blonde, trying to stay calm.

"What? Do I see a little crush here?" she answered, in a condescending tone of voice.

"I don't know what you are talking about" scowled Emma, temper slowly mounting.

"You _sooo_ do!" The brunette never stopped.

"No, I don't!"

"Yes, you do!" Lily was acting out, and knew that Emma's breaking point was near, so she pressed. "Emma and Regina, in a tree, K-"

"Stop it, Lily" Emma snapped, successfully angered. "Yes I talked to Miss Mills and it is NOT your business at all."

At that, they all sported confuse faces. It wasn't Emma's type anymore to hide things from them. She was always expressing herself freely about what was happening in her life, and never stopped talking about the teacher, to the point that they all knew the blonde was smitten by Regina, an idea that made them chuckle.

But, Emma shutting them out like that was unusual, and quite worrisome about what could have transpired between the two.

Tink, the most compassionate of the group smiled softly at her friend, before trying to calm her.

"Emma, it's ok. We don't want to force you to talk if you don't want to. We merely are curious, and if you want to talk about it, we'd like to hear."

Emma deflated at that, and sprawled herself on the counter, head hiding under her arms, and so her reply came muffled "I know, I'm sorry I snapped at you. It's just… " she shrugged. The blonde knew she couldn't tell the truth to her friends, and so she had to find something solid as lie. As much as she was able to pick up on them, she never seemed able to lie convincingly herself. And she couldn't stay silent, knowing it would be weird when she usually extended her talks about Miss Mills.

"She asked to see me because she noticed I struggled with the test for the first half hour, and wanted to be sure I wasn't cheating." Emma finished, hoping it would be enough to pass as the truth for her friends and help her forgo a lengthy explanation.

"And so, were you?" Asked Neal, seemingly unconvinced, receiving approval nods from Lily and Ruby for his question.

"Really, now, Neal? How could I have cheated?"

He shrugged his shoulders, almost sorry for asking as he knew she would never do that, and certainly not in Regina's class, as she wanted to impress the teacher, but still wanted the answer.

"Well, no, of course, no, I didn't!" Emma hissed.

The bell over the door chimed, and Ruby looked at her friends, apological, and left to serve the new customers.

"And, so, how did it went?" Said Tink, once again the one to relieve a bit of the tension shimmering between the friends.

"Um, It went good, I think. I couldn't stop looking at her, and she seemed to support my eyes all along. And she smiled at me, a genuine smile, like, the ones that lit up the hole room and-"

"There it goes again." Whispered Lily under her breath, regardless relieved to have her friend back in her usual good mood and goofy antics.

Time came when she had to part way with her friends to go back to the apartment, and see Mary-Margaret and David. She would follow the advice Regina had given her earlier, and talk to them; they could be a good support and help her with her learning.

She would really be a part of the family, just like them, and there would be no secrets and no reasons either to send her back because she is a freak. It was a damn great sensation, as if a weight had lifted from her shoulders.

She wanted to tell them, but she could still have fun to make them discover, right? She had successfully harvested her power to do her bidding today; she could do it again.

So she entered the apartment, and chuckled before saying her favorite replica from a book they read for literature, a remix of old fairytales, in a deep, rich voice, on the verge of threatening.

"Sorry I'm late." She had the time to end her line before bursting out in laughter.

Mary-Margaret jumped, because she hadn't heard her enter. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating fast. "Good god, Emma. Don't frighten me like that, I'll do a heart attack!" She said, in a high-pitched tone, only succeeding in making Emma doubling in laughter even more, making it hard to discern her next words "Well, Snow White, as I am the Evil Queen, I'll have your heart no matter." But they still picked up on them.

At Emma's good mood and laughter, both foster parents smiled.

"So, I gather you had a good day?" Asked David

"Yeah!" Emma told him, still smiling. "I'll go in my room."

"Emma, just go put your bag in your room and come back, dinner is ready!" The brunette half-

shouted, as Emma ran up the stairs.

"'Kay!" Was the only answer they received. Seconds later, Emma walked down the stairs. "What are we eating?" she asked, trying to see what was on the plates on the counter.

"Do your task and you'll know once we're seated." Replied the pixie-haired woman, eliciting a groan from her foster daughter. The sound pulled a smile from her and David, who looked at each other with eyes filled with love for their little family and the girl they had the chance to have in their lives. The air was relaxed and full of mirth and love.

Emma, always going for the shocking way smiled wickedly and closed her eyes, calling her powers forth, and concentred to put the table, tablecloth, ustensils and plates. No sound was heard as the items floated in the air and placed themselves as Emma willed them.

Mary-Margaret and David were gobsmacked, open-mouthed looking at the power display.

Emma seated herself as her foster parents were still rotted in place, and she broke the silence.

"So, my task is done. What are we eating for dinner?"

It seemed to snap her foster parents out of whatever trance they were in, and they looked at each other before looking at Emma.

"Emma…" Mary-Margaret started, with a soft voice, as if she wanted to tame a wild, frightened animal.

"Relax, MM. Regina suggested for me to talk to you both."

Their faces were identical pictures of astonishment.

"You talked to Regina? When? Why didn't you told us sooner?" Questions were suddenly fired at Emma really fast, once their new reality sank in.

"Woah! Slower, please? And can we eat in the same time? I'm famished!"

Mary-Margaret smiled; Emma was always hungry. Once they were all seated, Emma tried to answer to their questions.

"I used my power sooner, in class, and Regina picked that I used magic. SO, she asked me to stay after the class, and told me about being… Wiccan." Both adults nodded at that, but said nothing, prompting the blonde to go on. "So, yeah, I always thought my power made me a freak, and so I hid it. But since she told me you both have it…"

"Yes, honey. You don't have to hide anymore. You are just like us, and it's the most natural thing. You can always come to us." Mary told her, before David added "We can start to teach you, and make you come at our meetings with us!"

Emma squirmed in her seat at the last proclamation. "Well, I mean… Regina already told me she'd teach me. We'll start tomorrow after school, and she'll bring me to the next circle, she said."

"Oh." Was the first answer from the brunette. "Well, Regina is the best, and it's amazing she's willing to teach you. You have so much to learn! And if you need anything, of course we'll be there. Don't hesitate to come to us."

"Thanks, guys!" Emma said, moisture pooling in her eyes. Bad memories seemed to lose their weight with these good ones replacing them. Acceptance was new to her and it made wonders to start to mend the broken pieces of her heart. She was loved as she was.

Emma had had a hard time sleeping last night, too excited at the prospect to start lessons with her – not so secret anymore – crush. A small smile, hidden at the corner of her mouth, never left her face all day long, even if he seemed to drag slowly. Her anticipation made it like her classes seem longer than an hour each, and she hadn't been able to take notes at all.

In her last two classes, with Miss Mills, her mind stayed unfocussed, and she couldn't stop looking at the latter, entranced. Finally, classes ended at four, and students left the class. Ruby and Lily turned to Emma, still seated, and the brunette snapped her fingers in front of the blonde, eliciting a chuckle from Regina and Ruby. "Em! What are you doing?"

"Um, I'm sorry, but I have something to do tonight." Emma answered, looking at their teacher, who was looking at her friends with a kind look on her face.

"She's taking _extracurricular_ lessons with me." Regina completed, with emphasis on extracurricular, at the lost look on the girls face after the blonde's answer.

A heartbeat passed in silence, and shock registered on the girls' faces.

"What? Emma's li-" Lily started, cut short by Ruby.

"Shut up, Lils. Don't make assumptions, we don't know."

Emma eyed their conversation curiously, then looked at Regina, who had a small smile on her face, and back to her friends. Then, it clicked, and her eyes widened.

"Oh, GOD! You are like me? Both of you?"

The smile on the teacher's face bloomed. "Yes, they are, Emma. I told you, you weren't the only one."

"Oh, god. This is so not what I expected today!" the blonde whined

"Well, you now know some of our circle members, and new people to talk with."

"Emma, this is amazing! But why haven't you been to any of our circles yet?" Ruby asked

Regina lightly coughed. "That would be because I found she had powers she hid only yesterday."

"Oh! That's why we haven't felt anything from her, Miss Mills?" questioned Lily

"Yes, dear. Denial can do quite strong things to people."

"Um, Right." Mumbled Emma, eyes cast down.

"Now, dears, I am sorry but I have to ask you to go so I can start my lesson with Miss Swan."

"Oh, yeah, sorry." Said Ruby, sheepishly, while Lily looked at Emma with a gaze that told the blonde she would be teased later about _private lessons_. The thought made her roll her eyes at her friends' back.

"See ya, Em! If you need us, we'll probably be at the park!"

"'Kay, bye!" She answered to her friends, smiling at their antics. When she'll see them all next, she knew she would have to face the music and that the news would have spread in the group by then.

"Miss Swan, would you be so kind to follow me?" The brunette asked, few seconds after the two girls were out of view and that the clatter of their shoes on the marble floor was silenced by the distance.

"Yeah, sure." Emma replied, raising from her desk, and slung her bag over her shoulder by the unique strap, similar to a purse's one.

Regina left the classroom with her briefcase and her trench coat hanging from her left harm, as the day was still quite hot and sunny.

"I observed that you have a car, and yet, I won't let you drive that deathtrap to my house. No, you'll come home with me, and I'll drop you back here." The brunette went on. When she registered that she was the only steps that resounded, she faltered a bit, worried she had overstepped something. So when she looked at the young woman, she expected a shocked, or even angered face, not a mouth agape, a face contorted in an expression of profound disbelief.

Emma couldn't stop to replay the phrase that had caught her attention and held such a deep meaning for her. She had misheard, right? There was no way her teacher was implying anything about her house, right? Her questions went on in her head for a handful of seconds, and she saw Regina's step falter and come to a halt.

Regina narrowed her gaze at the young woman; she was rotten to the spot, and didn't seemed to snap out of the inside of her head. She rolled her eyes. "Miss Swan." She said, without success, before repeating, with a bit more intend "Miss Swan!" Still, the blonde was lost to the world. It took an almost yell of "EMMA!" to get her back.

She lifted her head, startled, her cheeks a light shade of red.

"Did you thought we would do that in a public place where anyone could overhear us? No. And I don't carry my books around, either, dear." Offered Regina, tone still as rigid as her back seemed to be.

"Oh, right. But why your house?"

"Because it is the place we reunite before the circle every Friday. We have a special room for magic, and it seemed the best option. I'd rather not go to Mary-Margaret's and David's apartment if I can."

"Ok. But I can drive myself over, you know."

"As I said, I'd prefer to know you are safe for at least the moments you are under my supervision."

"I'm sorry, but my Bug is really safe!"

"Somehow I doubt that, dear. Climb in."

"Right." Emma muttered, under her breath, exasperated.

The ride went mostly in silence, the kind that don't need to be filled by idle chatter, and soon enough, the Mercedes parked in the ally of a big white mansion, who looked almost as a castle, with the elegant lines and curves of the structure.

If Emma had been impressed by the outdoor appearance of 108, Mifflin Street, it couldn't compare to the interior design that left her agape. The high cellar made the house look bigger than she was in reality, and the pristine of the walls was attracting the light. There wasn't a lot of decoration, but the touches, here and there were pretties and gave a bit of light to the house.

Emma hadn't been given the time to dawdle and gape at the magnificent décor, she'd been lead rather fast to a big room, at the end of the hallway next to the kitchen. Regina stood in the doorway, after Emma had entered the room, and let her explore. The room seemed to be an extension of the previous built of the home. Had it been constructed on purpose? Probably.

Emma's eyes roamed over the room. The walls at the back of the room were entirely made of glass, almost giving the feeling to the visitors that they were outside. The other two walls were painted in a light shade of brown, almost beige, and were half covered by deep brown wooden bookcases and cabinets, giving the room a homey-like feel. The energy radiating from the piece was one of welcome and comfort.

Nothing was on the wooden floor, except on the north corner stood a big stone with a flat top, almost mid-waist high, who had a rectangular form.

"The stone is our altar, you will learn it all. In time." Said the sultry voice, who had creeped behind Emma while she was occupied to look at everything else.

"It's a beautiful, but really big room…"

"Yes, well. We need enough space to be able to do the circle, and we are twelve, well, thirteen now, with you."

"Now that you've asserted the room, we can start our lesson. I'll come back with something to sit on."

"Right. I'll be here!" said Emma, earning herself an eye roll and a quick quirk of the crimson lips she desperately wanted to kiss.

While she waited on her teacher, Emma perused the bookcases, almost filled by books, stones, knives, candles, incense, plants, fresh and dried, and other objects that she was sure to learn about. She let her fingers run on the spine of the books, reading the titles in the same time.

Just as she moved to the book 'History of magic', Regina returned with two rather comfortable-looking chairs.

"Ah! I see you've found the book I wanted to start with first. Pick it up, and come sit with me, Miss Swan."

"Can you call me Emma, when we are alone? I… I really don't like being called Miss Swan. It's so… Impersonal and cold."

"Yes, of course, _Em-ma_." Regina replied, putting emphasis on the girl's name, making her blush and sport a sheepish smile.

"Thanks." She finally said, sitting on the chair provided by her teacher.

"So, before we delve into the books and everything you have to learn, I'd like to tell you the, well, history of where magic came from."

Emma smiled, lighting up the room, and that was all confirmation Regina needed to carry on.

"A long time ago, a Fertility Goddess and a Hunter God were worshipped. Life was hard, but still, mostly happy. Seasons came and went, until a man, who wanted control and power over all of the beings started to rallies men in his wake. He wanted more, and was never satisfied with what he received from the Earth. In his search for power, he destroyed the gifts the nature was offering, and since the God and the Goddess seemed to stop hearing his pleas, he created a new entity to worship; known today as the God of Judaism.

"The man was convinced that his kind was superior to the fairer sex, and so, started a conception that men were better. His ranks never stopped to fill themselves, and every pagan could see that war was brewing against them. Alas, they were neither equipped to do lasting damages nor wanted to, as their deities asked for fairness and justice without spilling blood.

"All that was left for them to do was to pray and to wait for the massacre that was sure to come for them. Villages after villages, the man created devastation and left death in his wake. Seeing that nothing could stop him, and not wanting for their subject to be destroyed, the God and the Goddess came to a solution. They infused magic into some loyal subjects, 12 in all, separating them by element on which they had the biggest control.

"3 were now in tune with the element of fire, 3 with water, 3 with earth and 3 with air. In each family, one was a woman, one a man and the last was what we call a polar soul, meaning, the person was either woman and man at the same time, had been born with the wrong body, - what we call transsexuality today -, or someone who loved the same sex as his own. The polar soul were the most balanced ones, as the magic came to complete them as a person. It gave them what they sought, and in return, they became the more devoted practisers. They used to say that a thirteenth person had power, but somehow disappeared and his power remained unknown.

"Once with the power, the new wiccans won over the self-proclaimed king, and were left alone. Life restarted in peace, and while the men that had followed the King stayed in his religion, the pagans let them be and never tried to win them back.

"Life went on, and the 12 members of the family kept on meeting every full moon, to pay homage to the deities, to thank for the harvest, to help with fertility, and some holidays started to appear. Power was given to the children at birth, even if only one of the parent was magical. Families were staying with their kind, and never in history have someone been a union between two powers. The fear of that probably came with the vision.

"The air family was known to be able to have vision and to talk to the goddess in their dreams. So, one night, she appeared to the polar soul of the air family, telling about a lost child, a polar soul, who would be born from the union between the air and the earth; the goddess talked about her power who would be magnificent, but would need a tether, because the child could become their destructor, or their salvation. The goddess left that night with a prophecy still known today by every family.

"After that, the four families were wary to interact with each other. They protected their newborns, and avoided as much contact as possible with the others. Years went by and nothing happened, so circles reformed, and fear left place to magic and nature discovery; to news spells and potions, new rituals and new holidays to honour their deities for the powers. They were respected in the community, but never felt superior because of that. Vanity and controlling wiccans were not well seen. Being Wiccan was being selfless, and good, and equal to everybody else. A millennia passed in peace.

"The society the man and his new religion had left behind had only increased with time, and while the pagans lived in peace, they made war to each other, destroyed forests and rivers as if the nature was theirs to possess, as if they were superior. And time came that the religion had morphed to the Catholicism we know today. They were eager for power, to be known as the only religion, to be feared and bowed in front. Pagans never did any of that, mocked them for taking ideas out of our own holiday to create theirs, kept doing magic and when the high powers of the Catholicism saw that, they swore to destroy us.

"That was what started the witch hunts, demons hunt, and we had to hide, to protect ourselves, because we were decimated. Our books, spells, potions, remedies were burned and destroyed, until all that was left was what was easy to carry. We lived in fear for centuries, passing knowledge to only the immediate family who had powers, we hid from mortals, and so, here we are today. Mentalities are more open, but not enough still to come out to the world, and so we keep the secrecy. Still, even with that, the families never produced an heir with powers from two different families, as they were still wary of the prophecy."

Regina ended her tale and the silence lingered in the air a long time.

"Wow. Our history is something else. Like, the process of Salem witches was real? I mean, it was, obviously, but it happened because there was real witches, and it's so sad, but mind-blowing at the same time."

"Yes, dear. History had been written as such as to look like the Christianism was the good party and won, but in fact, they did horrible, horrible thing in the name of a God that does not even exist. But, people can believe in what they want; we are not here to judge and make the same mistakes they did."

"That is so wise."

"Of course! It's one of the creed of the Wicca." Replied Regina, and looked at her watch. When she registered the time, she knew she had to close the day's session and send the girl back to her parents'. "Dear, it's just past seven. I think you are late for dinner with your parents, I'll drive you to your bug."

"Oh," Groaned Emma "Mary will be so angry at me, but I can't seem to stop to want to learn about this part of me I just freed."

"Yes, I get that, Emma. So, maybe we can meet tomorrow? I have a block of two hour to help you before I have to prepare for the circle."

"Sure!" Beamed Emma.

"But, Emma, I think it would be better if you don't participate yet in the circle. You can be here, and watch what happen, but I'd like for you to know more before getting you involved. Is that alright? And it will give you the time to get to know the other members, and they, you."

Emma's excitement had been tampered with the brunette words, but still, she understood why it was necessary, so she nodded.

"Great! And before we leave, I will give you homework." Said the brunette, with a wink to Emma. The playful side of her teacher was amazing to witness, and the blonde felt privileged to be able to see it.

When Regina came back next to her, she had a book, the one Emma had eyed earlier, ' _History of magic_ ' in her hand. She gave it to her student, who took it almost reverently.

"I'd like you to read at least the two or three first chapters for tomorrow. Can you do that?"

"Yes, of course, Miss Mills."

"Emma, call me Regina here."

"Ok… Regina." The blonde said, testing the name on her lips. A smile bloomed on both their face.

"Enough, now. We really need to get going." Stressed the teacher.

Once in the car, Emma asked the question that had burned her lips.

"Do you still use the families?" She blurted.

Regina smirked. "Why, yes, I do believe so." She waited for the next question; she knew it was coming.

"Which are you?"

"What do you think?" The fiery brunette sent back.

"I can't see you coming from either water or air. It seems too tamed in regard of your personality. You are driven, and a nature strength, but also…" Emma faltered before finishing her sentence. What she had almost said wasn't professional, and wasn't something you'd say to a teacher. But of course, Regina's curiosity was piqued.

"'But also' what, _Em-ma_?" she asked, her voice like a purr.

"Also really hot, I was about to say, but, well, the right term would have to be stunning."

Regina was silent for almost a minute before she replied, in a soft tone of voice "Thank you, dear. And I am from the fire family, if you still wanted to know."

The rest of the night had went well, and she had talked with Mary-Margaret a bit about what she had learned. At 8:30 pm, she went to her room, and prepared for bed. Once ready, she slipped under the sheets of her bed and started to read the book Regina had loaned her and asked her to read.

 _'_ _Witchcraft in ancient history was known as "The Craft of the Wise" because most who followed the path were in tune with the forces of nature, had a knowledge of Herbs and medicines, gave council and were valuable parts of the village and community as healers and leaders. They understood that mankind is not superior to nature, the earth and its creatures but instead they were simply one of the many parts, both seen and unseen that combine to make the whole. These wise people understood that what they took or used, must be return in kind to maintain balance and equilibrium.'_

When Emma closed the book, having reached the last page, she looked at the time. 2:27 AM. She would be tired the next day, but well. It had been worth it. The history of the wiccans had been explored in depth, and she felt that she connected to her magic sometime into her lecture. It was _right_. And _good_. She only missed someone to hold her at night and to show care.

She closed the bedside lamp and snuggled in the covers, imagining it was the thin arms of an olive-skinned, dark-haired woman, whispering sweet nothing in her ear.

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 **Hope you liked it! See you soon! :) And thanks for reading!**


	3. New shop & Magic mishap

**A/N: Hey! There's a new chapter for you! Hope you'll like it! I want to thank you all for the favorite, the follows and the comments. They make my day everytime :) You can still find me on tumblr under gardenia-queen. I'm actually working on chapter 5, so it shouldn't be long before you get the 4th :)** **It seems that my chapter are longer and longer the more I write. Well. More for you, I guess! :)**

 **See you soon! Love, GQ -xx-**

 **I still don't own anything except my plotline & a** **gain, sorry for the mistakes, they're all mine.**

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Emma woke up with a groan, startled out of a pleasant dream by her clock. She rolled over to hit snooze, but just as she touched the alarm, she sprung out of her bed. It was Friday, and she'll have another lesson with Miss Mills tonight, before she could observe the circle. She was almost giddy.

After she saw her reaction, physical and mental at the mere notion of the teacher in question, she frowned, and put a damper on the thoughts. What was wrong with her? Why was she that obsessed by her teacher? Of course, she was pretty, but it was like she felt a deep connection with the brunette that she didn't understood.

Oh, well, these musings at seven and a half in the morning were a bit heavy. So, finding back her good mood that had gotten her out of bed despite the little sleep she had during the night, she made her way downstairs after she dressed.

"Mornin'!" Emma said, chipper, and went to sit on a bar stool.

Mary-Margaret beamed, a smile plastered on her face as every other mornings, and seemed pleased by Emma's mood – or maybe because of her ability of dragging herself out of bed in time for once. She got another plate out, filled it and placed it in front of the blonde, who ate with gusto.

"So why are you up so soon? Trying to leave sooner to go impress someone?" The pixie-haired woman asked, a small light of malice dancing in her eyes.

Emma almost chocked on her food at the question. She coughed, and once her breathing was back on track, she said, maybe a bit too vehemently "No. Nobody at all." Still, despite her protests, she couldn't stop a small blush to appear on her cheeks as her mind strayed to the brunette teacher.

"Oh? Are you sure of that?" David asked, getting out of the bathroom, and having caught on the direction of the conversation and the redness of Emma's cheeks.

"Yes!" She almost groaned, at the insistence of her parents.

"Fine, fine. But, well, if Neal interested y-" Mary-Margaret started, just to be cut by Emma.

"I'm gonna stop you there. No. Neal has no appeal for me."

"Then, a girl? You know, if it was, it's ok. We are really accepting." Her tone was still sweet, caring, and the blonde couldn't help herself, and talked. She wanted to be supported and no longer hid something that weighted so heavy on her shoulders. They wouldn't send her back, it was ok for them.

"Well, now that you mention it… Yes, if I ever bring someone home, it would be a woman." The term 'woman' instead of 'girl', used by Emma did not escape her parents, who looked at each other, concerned.

"It's ok, Emma. We are happy you told us, but you should never had feared that to begin with."

"Thanks." She answered softly, her gaze ducking in her plate.

The meal ended in silence, but not a tense one, rather just as if everything had been said and everyone was proceeding.

Putting her plate away, Emma broke the silence, telling David and Mary-Margaret that she would not come home after school, as Regina was giving her another lesson, and that she would stay for the circle, to observe, tonight, before she left for school.

Of course. Once at school, her friends almost cornered her and without prompting started to tease her and ask her questions.

"So, how was the date with Mills, yesterday, Ems?" Emma rolled her eyes. Of course Lily would say something like that.

"You know it wasn't a date, so knock it off."

"Oooh! You're getting defensive! What _really_ happened?" Ruby called on her.

"You are not doing that again, you both. She helped me and helps me learn _new thing_." Emma said, putting emphasis on the last words to get the message across her two friends that were teasing her, but that now knew she was like them.

"Well, we know, but, still she said it was 'extracurricular lessons'. You can't blame us to be curious. It sounds lecherous, and you both have the hots for each other."

"Get your mind out of the gutter, Lily. You know what she was teaching me and it wasn't something like _that._ " The blonde answered, on the defensive, before adding as an afterthought "And she does NOT have the hots for me. It's ridiculous and preposterous."

Nobody said nothing for a heartbeat or two, before Neal picked up at the hidden meaning behind her phrasing.

"Goddess! She may not, but you totally do! You haven't said a thing about it!"

"For fuck's sake! Knock it off!"

"Not before you admit it. We've been pestering you about it long enough. It's alright to have a crush!"

Emma blushed.

"Ok. Yeah, you are right. She's pretty and sweet, and I might have a girl crush on her."

At her confession, Ruby started to jump around her. "I knew it! Now, we'll help you to get her. Sending positive magical waves, and all. She won't be able to resist you."

Ruby's comment made Tink flare to life. "Rubes! You know we can't use magic to force two person to fall in love. Taking someone's free will to choose is against the _Rede_ , to not harm anyone." She said, voice flaring, before she registered her words and slapped both hands on her mouth with wide, startled eyes, looking at Emma.

The friends grew silent, and Emma had a confounded look on her face. "You… You are a Wiccan too?"

Her only answer was a whimper escaping between Tink palms. It seemed enough to help the others to step out of whatever trance they had been into.

"It's alright, Tink. She's like us." Said Lily, patting the small blonde's shoulder, whose eyes snapped to Emma with an assertive look.

"Um, yeah. I discovered it two days ago, well, I mean Miss Mills did, and she started giving me lessons yesterday." Added Emma, skittish.

"Goddess! That's great!" Said Tink, relieved.

"I've been told yesterday that Rubes and Lils were, but I didn't thought you all were."

"Yep." Neal contributed to the conversation. "That's one of the reasons we are such great friends. Ya know, secrets tie people together."

"Yeah, I… I know." Emma stammered. Oh, she knew. Of course, she knew. She knew so very well, having been a kid in foster homes. Keeping secrets with the other was the motto she learned first. Better shut up about mild abuse than to talk and be relocated in a possibly worse home, right? So, of course, she'd bonded over hardship with her temporary siblings. They always got each other's backs.

Emma was pulled from her memories by someone calling her name. She snapped to attention and plastered a fake smile on her face. Going back in her memories was always a bad idea and the best way to break her good mood. Well, no one has to be the wiser.

"Yes, Rubes?"

"So, what do you think about good vibes to help Miss Mills and you to get together?"

"No, it's a bad idea. If something has to happen, it will." Emma answered, wisely. Before anyone could come back with something to say, the bell rang, parting the friends for their classes of the day.

When four o'clock came, Emma felt better. She had waited all day for this, and she couldn't wait to see what was to learn today. She stayed seated at her desk until all the students had left the classroom, Ruby giving her a wink before slipping out, receiving a scowl from the blonde. When the last student vacated the room, she rose and waited for her teacher, balancing from foot to foot, averting her eyes from her teacher, as she was half-bent over her desk to clean her desk.

"Well, Miss Swan, I need to go to my office to grab some papers for the weekend. Care to come with me? I won't be long."

"Yeah, sure." Emma shrugged, and followed her teacher to her office. When the brunette came back with a pile of papers – tests she needs to mark – the blonde offered her help to carry a part of it.

They walked to the teacher's car in silence, broken when the latter asked Emma to climb in. Only, this time, when they left the parking of the school, they took another road than the one they had been on yesterday.

"Um, Regina? Where are we going?" The blonde asked.

"What, dear, are you afraid I'll kidnap you?"

"No, I just… I mean I was curious, that's it."

Regina turned her head to look at the blonde for what seemed like a few seconds, a smile blooming on her lips, before she reported her attentions on the road.

"I know, dear. I was just teasing you. We are going to a small shop that will probably become your favorite one." She said, eyes twinkling with mirth.

"Oh!" Emma breathed. Then, she remembered something. "I also finished the book you loaned me yesterday. I'll give it back to you."

"Already?" Regina seemed surprised, in a good way.

"Yep. It was fascinating, I hadn't been able to put it down until I finished it." Replied Emma.

"Glad you liked it, dear."

"Is that why you became a history teacher? To break prejudices and open minds?"

Regina stayed silent for a few heartbeats, before the answer slipped from her full lips. "Partially, yes, it's the reason. It's also to do more research on _our_ history, more easily. But it's a story for another day. We are there."

Just as the brunette finished her sentence, she closed the motor of the car and opened her door to step out.

A building, alone near the piers, with herbs and flowers all around, stood in front of them. Emma's eyebrow lifted, as she read the name of the shop.

"Really, now? _The Enchanted Forest_ for a magic shop? How… Original." Emma sassed.

Regina narrowed her eyes at her pupil. "Ok, snarky pants. Move so we can go in."

Emma's eye roll wasn't lost on either of them and made both smile. They walked slowly, enjoying the view and the enticing smell of the salted water floating in the air. When the finally came to the door, Emma opened it and held it open for her teacher to go first.

"Miss Mills." She said, half bowing, laughter etched on her face.

"Isn't that a bit informal? It's 'Your Majesty'." Regina shot back, eyebrows lifted in a mocking superiority, laughter in her eyes, while she passed the porch of the shop.

Emma couldn't help it, at the jib from the brunette, she chuckled, which made a smile bloom on her lips.

The boutique was beautiful, and the positive energy that could be felt all around was invigorating. As the chime over the door moved, the woman behind the counter lifted from the chair she was sitting on. She had long brown wavy hair, and her smile was pretty, as the rest of her.

"Merry Meet!" She said, as a way of greeting, before adding "Regina, how are you?"

Emma was stunned. Everyone seemed to know Miss Mills.

The teacher smiled to the other brunette, and greeted her with a small bow of her head. "Milah. I was here to show you beautiful shop to Emma, my new protégé."

Milah's – Neal's mother, if she remembered – smile widened at that. "Oh, you are the infamous Emma! Neal can't seem to stop talking about you. I think he got an eye on you."

She felt more than she saw the change in the air and in Regina's posture. She became stiff as a board, losing her smile, and her fists clenched. The reaction was unexpected, and Emma brushed it aside as she answered to the mother of her friend. "Well, I don't… It's flattering but Neal's only my friend." The tension that had creeped in the room seemed to abate at the blonde's answer, and Milah's smile didn't lessen.

"The heart wants what it wants, right?"

Emma only half-heartedly nodded, trying her hardest not to look at her teacher to not give herself away.

The subject seemed to drop after that, as Milah focused back to their visit. "Anyway, did you come here today for something specific?"

Regina made herself known again, and the pretty – but probably faked – smile was back on her features. "I came here to show to Miss Swan the shop, if ever she needs to procure herself something. We just started yesterday."

"Well, take your time to snoop around! I am here until the circle tonight." The owner said, still amiable.

"So, You, Milah, MM and David, Tink, Red, Neal, Lily, Ariel I suppose, since Neal and Milah are. Who else?" Emma almost whispered to Regina while she started to look around the shop, in the stones and jewellery part.

"You'll see tonight, be patient, dear."

The blonde pouted. "But -"

"Miss Swan." Regina said, with a small warning in her voice. "Later."

"Right." She sighted.

"You can find everything you need here. Sometimes you have to command it a month in advance, but, generally they are well stocked." Said Regina, looking at the candles.

"Oh. And do I need something now?"

"I'd be inclined to tell you yes, but it depends where this lesson is taking us." The brunette said while tapping her chin with her index finger.

"So. What is the most important thing to have for a witch?" Asked Emma, curious, ravenous for new things to learn.

"I'd say we start with a book of shadows."

"And what is that?" The blonde couldn't stop her inquiry.

"Well, I'd compare it to a witch grimoire. Every witch has one. It's the place they write their spells, potions, experiments, but also their feelings about the circles and the celebrations, even their dreams, because some are premonitory, their observation, the way they yield their magic, their thoughts. They usually are passed in the family. You probably could ask to David or Mary-Margaret to loan one to see what I talk about."

"So, basically, it's a witch diary?"

"You can put it like that, yes."

Both woman strode to the side of the shop where libraries displayed books and blank notebooks.

"Wow! They are so beautiful!" Whispered Emma, taking one of the notebooks in a hand and softly sliding the other on the cover. Engraved leather and fitted gems were used to adorn the front of the black, hand-bound tiny pad.

"I'm glad you approve. They are hand-made, and as such, much more important to choose well." Was the answer from the brunette, who was looking at her with a small smile on her red-painted lips.

"How will I chose?"

"Well, dear. You have to let the magic decide for you. It won't be your eyes that will guide you; you will feel it when you'll stumble upon the right one."

After Miss Mills' explanations, Emma perused the shelves, brushing the books with the tips of her fingers, as an intimate caress. She was about halfway through when she felt heat emanating from one of the books. When she registered it, the blonde's fingers were already two notebooks away. She moved her hand back, and took it. The black leather cover was engraved with flowers all over, and in the center of each was a tiny rock of different color. In the center, there was a star with a circle around, and it was bound and closed on each side by metal hinges.

Emma's finger traced the star in the circle.

"It's a pentacle, the most representative symbol of the Wicca. Every branch is one of the elements; and the fifth one, the upper one, there,-" Regina started to answer to the unasked question, her fingers replacing those of the blonde on the shadows book. "-Is the representation of the fifth yielder, as they used to believe there was another power. Since there's not, we also see it as the energy, the flow of life, the origin of our power. It also represents the human body and its five extremities, when you use it on the right side; when the top branch is downward, it represents the devil. Originally, the pentacle was a symbol of life and health but today we use it for protection against danger and evil spirits; it is also an important ritual tool to use during ceremonies. The circle around the star represent the never ending cycle of life, its unity and integrity."

Emma smiled to her mentor, and dropped her eyes back to the pentacle.

"Yeah, it's a loaded symbol. I love it."

Regina almost smiled back, the corner of her lips briefly lifting before she hid it by clearing her throat.

"I think it'll be all for today, dear. Why don't you go to pay for your book?"

"Right."

"It was fun!" Emma told her teacher while climbing back in the car "I'd like to come back sometime, to snoop around more."

"Of course, dear. Now, hop in, we need to finish our lesson."

Once the car was on the road to the manor, the conversation restarted.

"How did you manage to finish the book I loaned you yesterday?" Asked Regina, slightly curious.

"Well, I was really interested that I read until I finished it."

"What?"

"Yeah. I fell asleep at half past two this morning." Said Emma, a but guiltily. She knew it wasn't healthy, but she couldn't help it.

"Emma, I get that all of this is new and exciting for you, but it shouldn't impact on the rest of your life; you still need to perform in school and see your friends."

"I know. I just want to learn a bit more. And maybe -" Emma cut herself.

"What?"

"Nothing." Was the curt answer that the blonde threw at her teacher, who seemed less than pleased.

"Emma…" Regina's tone was soft, she tried to coax her student from her shell.

" _Fine_. Maybe it'll explain why they left me on the side of the road, next to a burning house."

"What do you mean?"

"My parents, they left me on the side of the road, I was just a baby. A fireman found me when they got a call that a house was burning. So, maybe I can find explanations… Or just my real birthday date. I'm not even sure. The fireman found me October 25th, and it's my 'official' birth date."

"Oh, Emma… I am sorry. You won't get answers from books, but maybe we can help to try to answer to your questions another way, when your magic is better controlled."

"Really?" Emma's eyes were wide and excited. She could maybe have answer and she couldn't wait; maybe she would learn finally why she had been left to fend for herself. It was a weight that she wore on her shoulders every day and kept her from opening to people; what if the reason the she had been left was that she wasn't enough _lovable_? Suddenly, Regina's voice cut through the haze that were her thoughts.

"Yes, dear."

The rest of the ride to Regina's was filled in silence. Once they arrived, both women directly went to the room they had their lesson the day before and sat on the chairs that were still there. Emma brought her feet on the chair and hugged her legs, placing her chin on her knees and started listening to today's lesson. The velvety voice of Regina entranced her and she knew that she would remember everything the brunette would say.

"You have a lot of disciplines to learn from. There is, for starters, runes, gems and stones, plants, candles, incent, colors, instruments used, and everything about the circles. Then, we can move to more specificities as reading in tea leafs, or in the hand lines, tarot, dreams, auras, talismans, depending of your powers' family. So, the first part of your apprenticeship will be divided in three categories of those disciplines. First, you'll learn about the circle and witches instruments, then the longest part, about runes, plants and stones, and finally with candles, incent, colors and everything less major. Ready?"

"I was born ready."

Regina giggled. "It's accurate."

"Oh, please." Emma rolled her eyes at her teacher, but couldn't help the small smile that graced her lips at the brunette's fun.

"Shall we move on to something more educative, now?" Asked the brunette, her voice still full of mirth.

"Ok, right. Still an hour left to my lesson, right?"

"In fact, more like half an hour, as I got to prepare myself for the circle. But while I'll be doing that, you'll be reading. Again." Said Regina, with a grimace.

Emma shrugged. "It's ok. I don't mind much."

"Good."

The teacher rouse from the chair and went to pick a book from one of the shelves. Once she found it, she handed it to Emma, who gratefully took it and opened it at the first page.

"I will resume what the book will say in an easiest way for you to understand. The thing is that the majorities of book about the Wicca were written for the practitioners; those of us who were raised with knowledge of magic; and so some terms could be misunderstood by a non-practitioners. Is that alright?"

"Yes, of course!" was the blonde's answer to the enquiry.

"Right. Well, the circle is a safe place we brought to life to protect ourselves during the ceremony. We usually draw it on the floor with a chalk first and we do it again, but with purified salt. You can use other materials, or even no material at all, but it's easier to make it visible because it contain the influences, that can come from the outside or from the inside trying to get outside. Once we're in, we can get out or it'll broke and it could have repercussions. Sometimes, when you do outside rituals, you can use what the nature is providing, like tree branches on the ground, or even flowers. The only thing is that when you take from the nature, you have to give something back as a token of you gratitude and to keep the nature scales on the same level. When you open the circle, you have to go from the north – the cardinal point of the earth – in a clockwise way, until you come back to your original point, to close it. Then, you ask for the four elements to accompany you during the circle with a small offering at their cardinal point.

"As I told you yesterday, the stone is the altar. It is placed on the north side of the circle, as it always is during rituals. Then, you have all of the witches' instruments; we have one set for the circle and the majority of us have another personal one, often passed down from the parents."

A pained smile crept on Emma's face at the mention of parents and what could be passed down. The small one that Regina offered in answer was helping.

"The family don't have to be blood-related, dear. You can be given the instruments by the family _you chose_."

"Thanks, I guess." Emma shrugged, trying to appear unaffected.

"It's normal, dear. But, I have to finish our lesson here."

"Already?"

"Yes, I'm afraid we've been at it for more than half an hour."

"Oh, right."

"Are you hungry?" asked the teacher. "I know I could eat something."

"Yes, I'm famished!" Was the chipper answer from the blonde.

Regina smiled and rose to go out of the room. When she turned her head and saw Emma still seated, she gave her a puzzled look. "Are you coming, dear, or you'd rather stay here and starve?"

"Oh, Um, I'm sorry!" Said Emma, scrambling to get up from the chair and move to follow the brunette to the kitchen. The brunette moved directly to the fridge and took out a Pyrex plate with half a meal already eaten.

"I have lasagna leftovers. Is that alright with you? It would be faster to heat and eat."

"Yes, thank you, it's perfect." The blonde said with a smile while hopping on a barstool attached to the counter.

Once their plates was empty and put away in the sink, Regina excused herself to get ready and left Emma with the book she had given her earlier. So the blonde started to read about magical tools.

' _The athamé is a wiccan ritual knife. It traditionally has a black handle and is doubled-edged, however there can be many varieties and exceptions. The athamé is often chosen by the witch senses, and while often kept blunt, the blade of the knife is sometimes found to be sharp when the user of the blade is harvesting its plants and herbs itself. The knife represent the fire element and is used to yield the magical energies, as an extension of the arm. The athamé is often used to open the circles and is the representation of the masculinity part of the fertility. While there are many tools in Wicca, the athamé is pre-eminent among them in being used by all participants in a ritual whereas others will be either shared or used only by those performing particular tasks.'_

Emma's reading was cut short when she saw Regina moving down the stairs in a vivid red dress, stripped of make-up and of any ornaments. The blonde felt her heart rhythm go through the roof and couldn't help but stare at her teacher's beauty. She was so beautiful.

The brunette smiled at her student and made her way to the kitchen where Emma was still seated.

"Wow! I mean, you are…" Emma said when she found the use of her voice again.

"Bare? I know." Regina answered.

"No! Well, yes, but that's not what I meant. You are stunning."

"Thank you, Emma. And before I forget, I have something for you. I bought it earlier at the boutique. We all have one, and so, it's time you get your own."

Regina gave a small, rectangular, box to the blonde, who looked at her curiously.

"Why did you bought me something?"

"I'd say it's a 'welcome home' present." Said the teacher. "I'd like you to accept it as a nice gesture from teacher to student."

"Right. Student-Teacher." Emma snorted, and it made Regina frown.

"Emma?"

"Sorry. I didn't meant anything by it."

"Ok, if you say so. You can open it, now."

"Yeah, sorry." Emma's cheeks were slightly reddened. She took the small box and lifted the lid slowly. On a velvet scrape of tissue, was laying a beautiful silver necklace, with a green stone dangling from it, and a silver pentacle. The blonde's mouth was open, she didn't know what to say. The moment was so beautiful and the present so perfect that she never wanted to break the charm. Regina spoke first, not louder than a whisper.

"It's a chrysoprase."

"Miss- Regina. It's beautiful, but it's too much!"

"And why's that?"

"I can't let you buy me some precious stone!"

"Emma. We all carry some with us every day, for their power and protection. Mine are on a necklace, and I thought that you'd prefer that, but some also wears them on bracelets, rings, earrings, or even have made special arrangements in their clothes to carry them around."

"But-"

"No, Emma. It's my pleasure."

"Really?" Emma asked, with a small voice, so small, it almost sounded like a child.

Regina smiled at the girl. "Yes. Now, let me put it on you?"

Instead of a verbal answer, the blonde took her hair in her hands and lifted them, making space for the brunette to work and put the necklace on. The brunette smoothed it with one hand and placed the stone in the front, making Emma's breath catch.

"It's really pretty. Thank you." She said, exhaling.

"It was my pleasure, dear. And as you go, you can add stone to it."

"Do you have a lot of them?" Emma was curious to know. She didn't remember seeing the teacher with necklaces often.

"Quite a bit. I don't always wear the same ones every day. I change, depending on what I need to be helped with."

The silence lingered for a few seconds before Regina broke it.

"There is still a couple of minutes before the people start arriving. Do you have questions about tonight's circle?"

"Yes!"

"Then, feel free to ask."

"The first circles were 12, right? Three from each families?" questioned the blonde. At that, Regina had an eyebrow that rose before she answered to the girl.

"Yes, it was."

"So, won't it break the circle, if I step in and we are 13? I mean, 12 was the number of original magic yielders and so the covens are divided that way…"

"Emma, it does not matter. And if it did, the number thirteen had a rather profound meaning it the Wicca. A coven of thirteen is right. You'll be the missing yielder. But, in reality, we can't always be a circle of 12 or 13. Sometimes covens are three or four persons only and other times there is fifty people in the circle. So, no, our number does not matter."

"And is there a hierarchy in the circle?" Emma asked, still unsure of herself.

"Yes and no. I am the high priestess of this circle, meaning I am the one who controls what happens, and how, but we are all seen as equal. I am not any different, simply invested with the power to direct the rituals." The brunette smiled softly to her protégé.

"And we don't do these 'dancing in the rain naked' things, right?"

Regina chuckled at that. "No, not in the circle. But you don't have to be ashamed of your body dear." She said, her hand sliding along Emma's jaw. "We are quite proud of what the god and the goddess gave us. And some of us, in fact, do their rituals naked. It gives a power more connected to everything around us. It's not something to reject before you tried it, as we are all beautiful with what the deities gave us."

"You… You tried it?" The blonde stammered, her mind focused in the image of a naked Regina Mills, head thrown back, palms raised as magic seemed to flow through her.

The smile the brunette had on disappeared for a few seconds, as something dark flashed behind her eyes, but her mask came slamming back on. "Yes, dear, I did. It can lead to an amazing completion, even more if you are with the right person." The thought seemed to amuse the teacher, or maybe it was the face Emma was doing at this new bit of information, her mouth open in an almost perfect 'O'. "But to come back to your question, even if we are not naked, we usually have a ceremonial dress, which you often have a vision about before having it done. It's the only occasion we wear it, like uniforms, because it permit at the energy to move better, as the cloth is already soaked with magic and can't deflect it."

"Oh! So that is what you are wearing! So, I'll have a mental image of my dress?"

"Probably dear. Maybe this week, and then you can go to see Milah. She used to do the sewing since her shop opened."

"But how-" Emma's answer was cut short as the doorbell rang. She knew it to be the first member of the circle. Regina smiled at her.

"Why don't you come with me, dear? I can officially present you the members of our circle."

Emma hopped from the barstool and followed the brunette to the door and stood awkwardly on the side.

Once she opened the door, a tall blonde was smiling at them on the other side. Regina moved to invite her in. She stepped inside, and left her shoes on the entrance mat. She was dressed in a black dress with red stones embedded in all the front and around the drooping sleeves. She had an impressively plunging neckline and the fabric of the dress was black with patterns of a deep red.

"Merry Meet, Regina!"

"Merry meet." The brunette answered with a small smile. "Do come in, dear."

"Hello, Emma, right?" The older blonde said, extending her hand to the youngest who shook it.

"Um, yeah, and you are?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me! I am Mallory, Lily's mother." The older blonde said with a smile to Regina. Emma felt her eyebrows raise on her forehead. There was something going on between the two, as she could see with the looks they exchanged. The brunette licked her lips before talking.

"You know where to go, while I wait for the others to arrive. They probably won't be long."

"Alright. It was nice meeting you, Emma."

"Yeah, you too." She answered, a bit rudely. She didn't knew why, but the tall blonde was grating on her nerves, and she didn't liked one bit the way Mallory was looking at Regina. She bit her lip to rein in her emotions.

Once alone again, Emma whispered, as if she didn't wanted to be heard. "What is Merry Meet about? It's the second time you've been greeted like that!"

The laugh Regina produced was full of joy. "Oh, Emma! It only means that we are glad to see each other and it's our way to greet each other between the circle members. We don't use that outside of our group, and it's only those in the circle that use it with one another. We also use 'Merry Part' when we leave."

"Oh!" Emma was sheepish, but she was saved by the doorbell, that rang once again.

Regina opened the door and her friends were there, all in dresses.

"Merry Meet!" Said Tink, Ariel, Neal, Lily and Ruby, almost in the same time.

"And Merry Meet to you." Answered their teacher. "You know what to do." She finished, smiling slightly.

"Ems! You're there!" Ruby said when she saw her friend.

"Yup!" Was her answer as the wind was knocked out of her lungs when Ruby tackled her to give her a hug.

The rest of the group was more controlled and gave her a hug before going to the room at the back of the house. Emma sagged against the wall, and so Regina had to turn a bit to see her from her position next to the door.

The silence between the two lingered.

"Ruby seems to like you quite a bit from what I've seen." Regina said, her lips pursuing.

"Oh, um, well, we're friends. She's just really friendly with everyone."

The brunette only hummed as a non-committal answer, but before the silence could become too heavy, there was a knock at the door. Regina opened it, revealing Mary-Margaret, David and Mrs. McFly, the school secretary.

"Merry Meet!" Came from three voices.

"And Merry Meet to you three."

"Are we late?" Asked David, curiously perusing the hall of the mansion.

"Not at all, dear. We're still waiting for Milah and Killian." Was the swift answer from Regina.

Mary-Margaret saw Emma standing there and left her boots laying in disorder to go hug her daughter, while David only smiled to her.

"I'm glad you're here tonight, Emma." Squeaked Mary-Margaret, who seemed emotional.

"Yeah, me too." Emma answered, more dully.

"So, have you met Nova?" Her mother asked, smiling to the brunette she just mentioned with whom they had come.

"Hum, well, we've briefly met at school."

"Oh, yeah, right. The first day of school, I remember you!" Nova said, a smile stretching the lips of the tiny woman. She seemed genuine and sweet, even if she was a bit clumsy. "Anyway, I am Tina's – I'm sorry, Tink's – Mother."

"Oh! Right. I am -"

Emma's answer was once again cut short when two new persons showed up on the doorsteps, before the door was even closed behind the trio that just got in. Emma recognised Milah, which she had seen at the shop earlier, but she had never seen the man at her arm.

"And we are now all here!"

"Merry Meet, Regina." Came from the man clad in black pants that seemed to be done in leather, black leather at that, and a long shirt with lapels on the back, and from Milah, who had him at her arm.

"Merry Meet, Milah, Killian. The rest of us are already in the room, so I will join you shortly."

"Yes of course, Regina!" Mary-Margaret answered; she seemed eager to please.

Killian eyed Emma with something akin to… pleasure? And he extended his arm to her.

"Killian Jones."

With a tight lipped smile, she extended hers to be polite and answered. "Emma Swan."

"Well, I am certainly glad to finally meet you, Love. Ariel and Neal never stop about you. I can see why!"

Emma wasn't sure what was expected as answer, and so her eyes strayed to Regina, who looked at Kilian with a murderous gaze. Before she could say anything, however, Milah talked.

"Well, it looks like you even forgotten that _I_ was with you, dear."

"No, Milah, my love, I could never forget you. But, well, she still is a new creature in our quaint little town, and I have to admit that it does intrigues me."

At that, the owner of the magical shop rolled her eyes and mouthed a sorry to Emma, before leading him to the back of the house, where everybody was.

Emma turned to her teacher, who seemed to finally relax, and with a tilt of her head, Regina asked if she was ready to go to see the circle. The blonde beamed at her and nodded, following the brunette to the room.

"I am sorry, Emma, but I will have to ask you to sit here and… wait. Well, you can watch what happens, but it's important that you do not break the circle, alright?"

"Yeah, alright." Emma said, sitting in the chair that was on the other side of the altar, on the most reclusive center of the room. Of course, Emma wanted to watch what happened during the circle, but she was also fascinated by all the shimmering colors and jewels of the ceremonial dresses, the tools on the altar and the flow of magic she could feel all around the room.

When they opened the circle, the energy that was previously buzzing all around the room seemed to leave, or to be contained inside the magical barrier created by the chalk and the salt on the floor. All twelve members stood inside the circle once it had been closed, and as one, turned to the North. Regina rose the athamé she took from the altar in the air with one hand, bunching the sleeve of her dress up to her elbow, and in the left one took a small bowl in a shimmery material – probably a type of metal – full of rice. Once she had raised both hand, the coven started to chant, as one.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the North. Strength of the Earth, stand by us, give us your strength and wisdom to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

When the voices stopped, Emma's teacher moved again and reverently paced the bowl on the line of the circle. Then, she went back to the altar and took another small bowl, that had smoke coming off of it; probably a incent cone, Emma mused, from her seat. Regina moved to the east, followed by the other witches. And the chants started again.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the East. Cleverness of the Air, stand by us, give us your intelligence and creativity to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

Emma felt goosebumps all over her arms; not because of the temperature, but something in the voices, all mingled together was calling to her and seemed to pull her in. The blonde just had the time to regain her composure before they chanted something else again, turned to face the south, where she was seated, while Regina had once again a bowl and the athamé in her hands, this time, the bowl had a small candle, lit up, inside.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the South. Vitality of the Fire, stand by us, give us your passion and energy to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The brunette crouched to place this bowl on the line of the circle too, and when she lifted her eyes, and saw Emma, who seemed entranced, she made a small wink to the blonde, who blushed slightly, with what she could see from the light the candles around the room projected. The brunette went back to the altar one last time and took a last bowl, which sloshed as she tried to get a grip on him. It was filled with water to the brim, and as Emma had thought, they went west and repeated the chant.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the West. Insight of the Water, stand by us, give us your emotions and intuition to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The circle reformed, inside the line on the floor, where the bowls were still placed. Emma wasn't able to see a lot, but the shift of the energy around her was impressive enough for her not to be disappointed to be present.

Then, she saw everybody holding each other's hands. She heard the sweet voice of her teacher suddenly cut through the silence that had installed itself in the room, charged with power.

"As we are reunited tonight, we are here to thank the God and the Goddess to give us everything that surrounds us, as well as our magic. We give them our gratitude and open a place for them in our circle."

"Blessed be!" Was said by everybody at the same time.

"And we stand here tonight to share the power that has been given to us freely, and to give back some to the earth for the cycle to go on."

At that, everybody's palms went up and the room seemed to fill itself with magic. Emma was stunned. She felt the powers slide through her veins and it felt great, better than what she used to do with her own powers; it felt warmer, more controlled, but also foreign, and Emma supposed that it was the power from the other families inside of her that seemed not usual. Even with the tempering of the circle, Emma felt acutely the magic; and her head started to spin, forcing her to breathe harshly by the mouth. She heard voices, that seemed far away, and movement in the shadows behind her eyelids, but she felt so good and so _powerful_! She couldn't bother to do otherwise than to feel.

Son enough, she heard voices more distinctly and felt a hand on her shoulder, grounding her. When she opened her eyes the candles were still lit and she saw Regina in front of her. The world was still blurry and the voices still muffled, but it felt better. Through her haze, she heard distinctly the voice of her teacher.

"You absorbed too much of the power we freed. Come with me." And the brunette extended an arm for Emma, which she took gratefully.

Regina led them outside by the back door, and sat herself on the ground, her back pressed to the apple tree trunk.

"Come, sit next to me, Emma."

The phrasing made it like it wasn't a question; it probably wasn't, and Emma complied with the demand without much more prompting. Once she was seated, her teacher moved and kneeled in front of her.

"Now, I need you to do as I say. It won't be easy since it's the first time and the energy you took was powerful, but I know you can do it. Can you do that for me, Emma?"

The blonde couldn't produce a sound, so she merely nodded, feeling her eyelids drop.

"Focus, please, Emma!" The brunette said, in a tone that seemed a bit desperate, making the student snap to focus as best as she could.

"Thank you. Now, I need you to put both your hands flat on the ground, and your forehead in between, like this." The teacher said, while demonstrating to Emma what to do. She had both her palms on the grass, separated by the width of her shoulder, and she put her forehead in between the two hands, still on her knees.

The blonde tried to do as her teacher had just shown her but she seemed to lack in stability. After a few minutes of struggle to get in the right position, she finally got it, and waited for the brunette to finish the explanation.

"Now, I need you to feel the power in your veins, the magic you absorbed, and to push it through the earth, by your palms. You'll have to do as you did when you used your powers the other times. Can you do that for me, Emma?"

Once again, Emma nodded, and started to search the point of her magic, and started to try to push it outside. Still, nothing seemed to change, and so she pushed again. She could do it, Regina believed she was able to.

And so, when she found the center of warmth inside of her, she pushed it to her hands, again and again, until she felt that the magic was starting to drain from her without too much difficulty. Her body seemed to cool, and the sounds came back slowly, her vision too, and when she felt that she could breathe more normally, she lifted her head to see the brunette, who offered her a small smile.

"What was that?" Croaked Emma, as if her voice had been used to scream all evening.

"That, my dear, was a magical overdose."


	4. Runes & Magical Practice

Hey! I am so deeply sorry for the long wait I forced upon you all. My GF of the last 4 years and I broke up... And we were (still are until the end of the lease) living in an appartment together, so... boxes and where to go had been my day-to-day reality... So, i do hope you'll like this chapter, even if you will probably hate me at the end. Yes, I know. Oh. It's in this chapter that the 'M' rating starts to be needed. Probably not with who you wished for, though. So, sorry, but there is a DQ scene (at the end), AND it is necessary for the rest of the story. Please, bear with me.  
Again, I still don't have a beta, so all mistakes are mine, and I'm sorry for them, but English still isn't my first language. Nothing belongs to me except the plotline, even if I wish it was. Thanks to all of my lovelies readers, yes, you, for the favorite/follows and comments. It means a lot to me.

P.S.: During the circle, somewhere, i say that they sing "May the circle be open" it is a real song, and you can find it on YouTube : /watch?v=zHtGPK6Q6bI

P.P.S.: Today's the summer solstice, so Happy Litha to you all!

* * *

"A _what_ , now?"

Regina smirked at her student. "A magical overdose; you took too much magic, more than your body can support and use. The result is what you've just lived."

"Okaaay…" Emma drawled, still unsure.

"The thing is, that if you don't use your magic, you'll have magic outburst – quite involuntarily, I might add – and when you absorb magic, like you did tonight, it overwhelms your body. The magic we expulsed, all twelve of us, was to go to the earth, not to be taken. Since you weren't expulsing magic with us, it took you as a tether. You'll have to learn to shield yourself from that. Magic beings have tendency to attract the freed energy around them. I should have thought that it could happen even with the circle. I am sorry, dear."

"It's alright. I'm feeling great!"

"That is one of the secondary effects. You will feel like you have a lot of energy and your senses will be sharper for a few days. You will have to do what we just did again at least twice a day for the next two days."

The weekend went really fast; between dealing with the sharpened senses – she was able to hear everything, even the sound of the wind, blowing harder when hitting an object – doing her homework and letting the magic go back to the earth as Regina had shown her, she didn't had time to do anything else.

Emma woke up in time Monday and felt that her senses were back to normal. Of course she felt strange; she had power for a few days, powers stronger than her own, and coming back to what she used to have was a big step down, like everything was dulled around her. The week was starting once again; simply, this time, she had something to look forward to.

Emma left the loft with a good day thrown at Mary-Margaret and David before she drove to school in her bug. She wasn't late, but not a lot in advance either. Still, she had a couple of minutes she could spend with her friends and so she went to them, where they were seated at their usual table outside.

"Emma! You're alright!" Said Ruby, the moment she stepped into their line of sight. The brunette almost leaped to her feet to go and give her a hug.

"Um, yeah?" Emma was bewildered by such reaction to her presence, and it showed on her face. Her friends knew she was alright, she had spoken with them over the weekend!

"Well, you like, passed out on Friday! We were afraid for you, girl!" Lily quipped, but suddenly she was cut by Neal, who wanted to be heard too. "I know that we texted, but, well, seeing you are alright is such a relief. What happened?"

The question made her look at her hands that she moved around as if she was uncomfortable. In reality, Emma had wished they didn't ask. She didn't wanted to be laughed at because of her misfortune. When she replied, her tone was small and unsure. "Well, Regina told me that I made a magical overdose."

The answer from Tink was immediate. She usually was the one who had answer for the questions they asked themselves, she was the studious one. At least, her voice was devoid from any judgement, simply laying down the facts. "Oh, you took the magic we released?"

"I guess so, it just happen. I mean, I wasn't aware that I could suck up magic like if I was a vortex of energy or something!" Emma almost groaned in answer.

The remark made the group of friend chuckle before Tink, once again, answered.

"You aren't a vortex, but magic call magic, and if you let yourself open to that, or don't free magic like the others, it will take you as a tether, rather than go back to the earth."

"But the moment after I gave the magic back to the earth, I felt good, like I was all powerful and it felt like all my senses were heightened. I wanted to keep that with me." Emma added to the description of her misadventure.

"When you have control over your magic and when you let it flow through you as if it was a normal thing, you don't need that high; it always feels like that. We have sharper senses, since we are complementary with our magic. I almost don't remember how my senses were before." The other blonde explained.

"Really?" Emma couldn't help herself, and had to ask. She received nods from all the group before turning back to Tink again, who seemed to have something to add.

"But for that to be possible, you have to control and accept your magic and the fact that you are a magical being."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Oh. Well. It won't be now for me."

"Don't be discouraged, it'll come for you too." Ruby said, smiling to her friend. She knew now of her tendency for self-depreciation, and felt like she had to cheer her up sometimes.

"Yeah" piped Lily "Don't forget that all of this is also rather new for you!"

Uneasy from all the positive attention, Emma tried to deflect the subject. "Thanks guys! So, what's up, beside of that?"

At her question, the chatting started back, and Emma was swept in the last gossips, given to her by her friends.

Emma couldn't wait to see Regina – _no, Miss Mills_ – again and to have other lessons with her. All the new knowledge she acquired, and the power it gave her was exhilarating. Of course, in prime, having the teacher to herself was a good advantage; she could spend more time with her… Crush.

So Emma concentrated in class, wishing for the time to go faster. When finally came her history class, she had a smile permanently etched on her face, to which Regina gave a wink before starting class.

Emma felt the energy shift during the class and she furrowed her brow. She felt like something was poking her arm, but there was nothing. She looked at Ruby, who offered her a cocky grin, but before the blonde could answer, Regina looked at her.

"Miss Lucas, will you be so kind to stop playing with… whatever you have in your hands?"

"I'm sorry Miss Mills. It won't happen again." Ruby lowered her head when faced with the disapproving look their teacher held in her eyes.

"As it should. Thank you."

Emma couldn't help but find the exchange clever. Regina had visibly sensed the magic that the other brunette had emitted, and in front of the class, had an interaction with the person concerned, to ask her to stop it without even revealing what Ruby was really doing.

The day finally ended, and Emma stayed behind, as she had started before, to talk to her brunette teacher. She wanted to know when would be their next lesson, since they hadn't fixed a day yet.

Regina seemed lost in her thoughts and Emma had to clear her throat to be seen. Regina gave her a small smile.

"I… We haven't talked about when will be the next lesson." Said Emma, in a sheepish voice.

"Well, I was waiting to see how you were faring after Friday. You seem well."

"Yes, I am much better, thanks to you."

Regina seemed to think for a few seconds, after which she licked her lips and looked at Emma. "Ok then. I propose to put our next lesson Wednesday. It will give you time to recuperate totally, and to finish the book on the magical objects. Where are you in your reading?"

"Um, well, I went over the athamé, the chalice, the pentacle, the white handle knife, the wand and the cauldron." At her student's answer, the brunette nodded, following in her head. She noted what was missing from the blonde's reading for now.

"So, there is still the broom, the bell and the altar you have to read about and memorize."

"Yes? Well, I think so. I didn't really look." The blonde answered, making Regina smirk at her.

"Alright, Emma. I'll see you on Wednesday. If you need anything, you can come and find me, either here or at my house, ok?"

"Yes, thanks, Miss Mills! Have a nice night!" Emma said, before picking up her backpack and leaving the classroom to find her friends. Two days. It will be long, Emma thought with a sight.

Emma had thought right; the two days before her lesson had been long, and seemed to stretch without end. At least, she still had to learn about some things; she wasn't only left to her own devices. So that's what she did, and Wednesday after school finally came around. The bell rang, and after all the students had left the class, Regina turned to her protégée.

"Ready to go, Miss Swan?"

"Yup!" Emma answered, leaping to her feet, seemingly eager for the new lesson she would be given.

Once again, they left the school in the Mercedes of Regina, and went to her house directly to 'the Wiccan room', as Emma had started to refer to, in her head.

Few seconds after they sat down, Regina started. It seemed that she didn't wanted to lose time.

"Your lesson today will be about Runes. It will be a lot to learn, but you really need to know them on your fingertips because Runes are very important to learn to yield magic properly. We use the Elder Futhark runic system as it is the first runic system used. You will have to learn it and memorize it to be able to use it at the tip of your hat, as a second language. Even some books are written in runes."

"Why is it called Futhark?" Emma asked, curious to know more.

Regina smiled at her student's cleverness and desire to learn. "Because it's called after the first six letters, similar to how the Greek alphabet, our alphabet, was named after the first two letters, 'alpha' and 'beta'. The Elder Futhark consists of twenty-four letters divided into three groups of eight, known as 'aett', when you talk about one group, or 'aettir' in the plural form. There is a blank rune called Odin, or Wyrd, which symbolizes the unknown, the destiny, but often forgotten as it is the 25th rune."

"And what do we do with the runes?"

"I'll show you, it'll be easier. I'll use a rune called Isa." At that, Regina took a blank parchment sheet before lifting her right hand over it and called forth her power. Emma had felt the magic, like a hot embrace around her. Then, with her index, she traced a straight line downward on the sheet, where a black line appeared. The brunette then blew on the mark, making it lift and change. Tiny shards of ice shoot out from the rune Regina had blew from, making the blonde astounded.

"But, you are from the fire family!"

"Yes dear. It is one of the reason why runes are useful. I used the rune Isa, which is Ice. Its meaning, if you want, is also its power."

"Damn! That's amazing! Can I try?" The blonde was practically bouncing on her seat from excitement. The new trick she had just learned about was amazing!

"No. Emma, you need to learn before doing magic like that. If you don't have the knowledge, it could be quite dangerous. And you must never forget that all magic comes-"

"With a price, yes I know." Answered Emma, a bit bored and deflated.

"Emma, it is important that you remember that everything you do will come back to you three time."

"Yes, I know! You told me a lot of times. I get it! But having powers and being unable to use them is boring." The blonde was pouting a bit. What good did it was if she had powers, but couldn't use them?

"You will, Emma. After I finish your tutelage, at least with the principal subjects." Regina sternly answered. Of course, she wanted nothing more than to move the theory along and go to practice, but she knew better. It wasn't safe enough for that. Not yet.

"But it's so long!" Emma whined.

"Well, we should get back to it then, right? As I was saying, runes are quite powerful. You'll need to know their name by heart, along with their meaning. I have a sheet that will help you learn them."

Waiting for Friday to come has been long enough; Emma couldn't wait to finally do magic with everyone. Even if she knew she had to study the runes her teacher gave her, and learn them by heart, but she was vibrating with energy at the idea she would be able to be a part of the circle and to do magic, real magic. So when the last bell of the week rang in the school, she almost ran to her friends. They would all go together at the mansion after having eaten at Granny's.

As the hour ticked by, the time seemed to flee faster than ever. Butterflies erupted in her belly and her cheeks hurt from the smile clinging on her face. They were almost half an hour in advance when they knocked at the front door of their teacher, who welcomed them graciously.

Tink, Neal, Ruby and Lily left to go to the room, while Emma was kept behind by Regina.

"You still don't have a dress, do you?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"No. I still haven't had the image of mine." Emma seemed a bit disappointed at that, looking at her feet. Regina ached to hold her, but knew it wouldn't be proper.

"It's alright, it happen sometimes. I can lend you one of my old ones, if you want, until you have yours."

"Really?" Emma asked. With the nod she received from her mentor, a smile bloomed on her face, almost hurting her cheeks. "It would be amazing!"

"Great, then! Come, I'll show you where you can change." The blonde followed the brunette up the stairs, where they entered a bedroom.

"It's the guest bedroom. I keep the old clothes that I can't seem to throw on this closet." The brunette said, after she saw how Emma looked at the bare walls, and white bed. The blonde chuckled.

"I thought it was too impersonal to be your room."

"Yes, you're right. Ah! Here she is." Said Regina, re-emerging from the closet she had walked in. On her right arm was a light blue dress, which seemed princess-y. Well, Emma wouldn't complain. The sleeves were only on the upper arms, in taffetas, while the skirt of the dress was puffy. "Mother made it for me." The brunette added. A flash of anger, hurt and sadness passed in her eyes at the mention of her mother.

"Um. You sure you want me to wear it?"

"Yes, of course, Emma. Now go and change. The bathroom is at the end of the hall."

"Thanks!" The blonde said, not wanting to appear ungrateful.

Her only answer was a quirk on the corner of her teacher's mouth.

The circle started like the week before, the difference being that this time she was inside the circle, in a ceremonial dress, and next to her mentor. She could follow every step, and mingle with the others with her power. She would free her power tonight and so, she wouldn't relieve the overdose she experienced last week.

The circle was traced on the floor and she felt the energy shift, contained in the circle that was just drawn on the floor. She saw smile given to her, and it helped the blonde relax a bit, since she knew she was welcomed between them. Then, as the previous week, the circle turned to the north as one, and Regina rose the Athamé in the air as well as one of the four bowls that Emma could now clearly see, still sitting on the altar. The first bowl, for the Earth, was filled with rice. Then, everyone started to chant, and Emma tried to follow as best as she could with what she remembered.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the North. Strength of the Earth, stand by us, give us your strength and wisdom to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

Regina went to the side of the circle and placed the bowl on the circle, just shy of touching it and putting it outside. She did the same thing with the second bowl, that had a incent cone in the middle, to represent the air. The group turned toward the east, the element's cardinal point, and chants started again.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the East. Cleverness of the Air, stand by us, give us your intelligence and creativity to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The group then followed Regina's lead, and turned to the south after she took the third bowl with the lit up candle inside.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the South. Vitality of the Fire, stand by us, give us your passion and energy to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The energy started to change in the room and Emma felt it. The air was more, dare she say, charged? It was more powerful, as if there was other's presence in the circle, suddenly. Well, more than the thirteen of them. At least the presences didn't seem hostile, even if they weren't friendly. They just… were. Finally, the high priestess took the last bowl on the altar and turned to the west, the rest of the group following her movement. She brushed against Emma as she passed beside her, making the blonde shiver.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the West. Insight of the Water, stand by us, give us your emotions and intuition to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

Now that the four elements were called, the energy in the room was powerful, much more than what Emma had experienced from the outside last Friday. The energy was invigorating and electrifying. It felt good, even if a little tingly, on her skin.

As the coven held hands to form a circle like last week, she did too. On one side, she was holding David's callous palm, and on the other, she held Regina's hand, making her giddy at the experience. As everyone closed their eyes, she did the same, but she opened them again to look at the brunette that was standing, with a smirk, beside her. She felt the pressure of Regina's hand, as if it was a quick warning, and when she looked at her face, in disbelief that her perusing had been caught, she saw that the teacher still had her eyes closed. She complied and closed hers for good too. Then, Regina started to chant.

"As we are reunited tonight, we are here to thank the God and the Goddess to give us everything that surrounds us, as well as our magic. We give them our gratitude and open a place for them in our circle."

"Blessed be!" The coven answered, as one.

"And we stand here tonight to share the power that has been given to us freely, and to give back some to the earth for the cycle to go on."

At that, everybody's palms went up and the room seemed to fill itself with magic. Emma knew it was the moment where everybody started to expel their magic, and so, she did the same. She went inside of herself to use her power, and she felt it move inside of her, as if she had freed a part of her. She willed her power to do her bidding, trying to expel it from her palms, and when she felt the caress-like feeling on her hands, she grinned. She knew she had succeeded to free her power and letting it out. It felt really good, as if after being cramped in a cage for too long, she was free to fly again.

The energy in the room changed from the power Emma exuded. Regina felt it shift around her and the power, one she hadn't felt expulsed before – Emma's – tried to reach for her. The brunette felt the connection between their magic. The power Emma had was exhilarating and quite arousing. The teacher felt it in her veins; sweeping inside of her and asking to take the blonde as hers. They both were lost in their world, even if Emma had no idea what was the effect of her magic on the brunette.

When everyone else stopped to give up magic, as they felt it starting to dwindle in them, the blonde stayed oblivious to everyone stopping. The members' of the coven were impress by the strength of the magic the newbie was expelling. Her magic felt like nothing they had experienced before, it was more powerful than any of theirs.

When Regina opened her eyes and saw that Emma was still the only one expelling magic, she smiled, but had to control her urges to go and… kiss the girl. While they all waited for Emma to finish, Regina squirmed. The ache between her legs just kept growing with Emma's magic.

Finally, Emma opened her eyes with a blissful smile on her lips. "Wow." She said, breathily, breaking the silence around her.

The circle went on, after that, peacefully. The coven meditated, to try to connect with the nature and the deities, before doing a potion for Nova's mother. She had asked for something to help her because she was sick, and the group accepted.

Emma was spellbound by the magic practiced. The cauldron was placed in the center of the circle, and Regina lit a fire that didn't burn, only heated, underneath it. Then, Mary-Margaret, David, Milah and Killian started to chant and pour herbs and a stone in it, before turning on themselves and around the cauldron three time. Emma's friends were called after, and they poured magic in the potion, before moving away.

Regina snuffed out the fire and took a small vial from the altar, which she filled with the mix they had done, before taking the stone that was still in the cauldron. The brunette gave both to Nova.

"Make your mother drink this," She said, lifting the vial. "And place the stone underneath her pillow, so she sleeps with it every night. It should help. If it doesn't, come back to us next week so we can try something else, alright?"

"Yes, thank you so much! Blessed be!" Tink's mother answered.

The high priestess smiled at her before returning at her place next to Emma. "Tonight's circle is over."

The witches took each other's hands again, before everyone sang as one. "May the circle be opened but unbroken, may the love of the goddess be ever in our hearts. Merry Meet, and Merry Part, and Merry Meet again."

The hands unclasped, and once again the group said as one "Blessed be and thank you to the earth for being with us during our circle. Merry part."

The same was applied to all four elements, only replacing the name in the formulation of the sentence. Before long, the presences were gone. Then, Regina took the wooden broom and gave it to Emma.

"You have to sweep the circle to break it."

"Right."

So Emma went to the edge of the circle and started to sweep the salt and the chalk on the floor as the group chanted once again. "We open the circle. We part, in merriment, till the next time we meet."

Emma left the mansion with her family after greeting everyone until next Friday. The car trip to the loft was silent, but in a comfortable way. They were all exhausted with the power they had given up.

Emma bid Mary-Margaret and David goodnight. The blonde was still tingly from the magic she had experienced and used during the circle when she went to bed that night. A smile was etched on her lips and she thought she would have pleasant dreams. Without more prompting, she slid between the sheets of her bed, and turned off the light before falling asleep, the image of her teacher behind her eyelids.

Regina tossed and turned. The sleep was eluding her and she knew why. The ache between her tights was overwhelming, and that was because of her new protégée. Emma was powerful, and raw, her power called to Regina. She needed the blonde. Still, she couldn't act on it and with a sight, slid her hand underneath her pajamas. She felt how aroused she was, her wetness having coated her underwear. Slowly, she started to rub her clit in swift, tight motion, and with her free hand, started to roll her left nipple between her fingers. She imagined Emma hovering over her, her pale fingers on her aching core, while she whispered dirty things in her ear. The pattern of her finger changed, her hand becoming more and more frenetic, before she felt the pleasure exploding behind her eyelids, warming her lower belly, and moving all over her body. The only sound that escaped her was a whimper that sounded a lot like 'Emma'. When her orgasm subsided, leaving her panting and limp on her bed, she rolled on the side and felt her eyes closing, taking her in the arms of Morpheus.

 _It was black. Way too black. Emma squint her eyes to try to see. There was rustling, like clothes when someone was walking. She could only discern shadows of what looked like two woman arguing. Then, the room seemed to lit up, and the voices grew louder. But the light not only grew, with it came the heat. The room seemed to grow warmer really fast, and the voices started to be understandable. A first voice said "I'll have her, no matter what and you know that!" with a crazy cackle before the other voice, much more tender answered "Stop that, Cora!" The heat felt unbearable, and Emma screamed, muffling the voices. She looked down at herself and saw that she was engulfed in flames, which were lapping at everything around her._

Emma jerked awake, panting, sweat running down her back. The dream had felt so real! She rouse from the bed and went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. When she felt more in control, she lifted her head and looked at herself in the mirror.

She remembered what Regina had told her. ' _The air family was known to be able to have vision._ ' And she still didn't knew which family she was from, so it could be a possibility that she was, in fact, having a vision, right? She would have to go to Regina tomorrow to ask her, because the dream had really perturbed her with its realness.

Until then, she went back to bed and saw that it was a little past five in the morning. She wouldn't be able to fall back asleep, and so she leaned against the headboard of her bed and started writing the dream she just had in her Shadows Book.

Regina woke up at almost nine. She was used to rise early in the morning and she didn't though much about it until she felt the ache she thought she had quelled the night before returning with a vengeance between her legs. She rolled back in bed with a groan and resolved to go and take a cold shower. It could only help, right?

The cold water on her heated skin was nice, but her craving for the young blonde student was still there and she didn't seemed to be able to make it disappear. She spent long minutes under the water spray, trying to cool down. It didn't worked. Maybe with someone else's help she would be better?

She knew she had told herself that she wouldn't call her; they were both worth much more than a quick fuck, but she had an itch to scratch and it started to feel unbearable. Dried from her shower, she went back to the adjoining room and took her cellphone from the nightstand. She quickly unlocked it and texted another blonde, rather than the one she really wanted.

" _I need you now. When can you be here?_ "

She pressed sent before she could think about it twice, and the phone pinged with the answer a mere seconds later.

" _I can be at your place in 40_."

Regina tapped the cell against her lips, thinking about her answer and if she needed her to hurry this much or if it could wait.

" _Alright. The door will be unlocked, just come and find me in my study_."

Emma prepared herself for the day, and at almost ten, she left the loft to go and ask Regina about the dream she had; it really had disturbed her and she needed guidance from her mentor. She then slowly made her way to the mansion, walking and basking on the residual heat of the end of October, taking in the sight of the trees that seemed on fire with all their colors.

Of course she heard the crunch of the fallen leaves, which had turned more often than not a light brown while dying on the ground. Still, the weather was nice and the sun was bright; maybe not for long anymore, so she would enjoy it while it lasted.

Soon enough, she arrived at the mansion and her blood ran cold. The front door was slightly ajar and it seemed like there was no one around; maybe the brunette had simply forgotten to close it completely, but somehow Emma felt like it wasn't that and dread pooled in her stomach.

She let her feet carry her to the porch and she softly knocked on the door, expecting an answer from Regina. When what felt like minutes passed, she knocked harder, a lump in her throat. It wasn't good. Her second knock wasn't answered either, so she pushed the door open and stepped inside.

"Hello?" She said, hoping to get an answer. Sill the silence was the only answer she got.

She walked more into the house and was startled by a low sound, like a muffled moan. At that, her back tensed and she tried to recall her magical lessons to be able to intervene in case something bad was happening. She moved in the direction the sound came from, and it seemed to increase as she walked inside the house. She was met with a closed door where she could hear quite clearly the sounds from behind.

Fearing for her teacher, she swiftly opened the door, and what she saw left her speechless.

Regina hadn't bothered to dress up nice and put make up on. She knew it was almost ten in the morning, but for the company she expected, and the things she was about to do, she didn't needed to be well put; she knew she would only end up with ruined make up, and rumpled clothes, thrown all around the room.

So she sat on the couch in her study, with her back straight and a coffee in one hand, waiting for her company to show up. When she heard the door open and rushed footsteps in the entrance of her house, she knew her desires would soon be sated. Mallory knew her and what she needed.

Mal opened the door of the room and stopped on the threshold.

"I am sorry, but I wasn't able to take care of myself. I am burning." Regina said, with emphasis. She rouse from the couch and walked toward the blonde woman. "Fuck me, Mal."

"It will be my pleasure." The elegant blonde answered, with a sultry smile painted on her lips. She moved from where she stood and joined Regina halfway.

They met in a clash of teeth and tongues and lips. The kiss was messy and almost immediately, hands started to roam. Since Regina was only wearing a satin bathrobe, the older blonde unknotted the belt that kept the robe closed and her hand found perky breasts. She felt the nipples of the brunette already hardened and Mal couldn't contain a moan at that.

"So you are already ready for me, darling?"

A whimper was the only thing that escaped the mouth of the brunette, who was lost in the feeling of hands on her body, of slender fingers toying with her nipples, of a mouth that was kissing the side of her neck, softly nibbling at her pulse point.

The hand that was kneading her right breast was replaced by a warm and wet mouth. A moan escaped Regina's mouth and she felt her hand tangling in blonde tresses. Her hips started to move softly, trying to get contact with something, _anything_.

A chuckle escaped the red lip of Mal, seeing the need her friend was in. With a soft pop, she moved her mouth away from the nipple she had been sucking on, and went to find back plump lips. The kiss started again and the blonde pushed her lover towards the couch that she had vacated not long before, sprawling her on it.

Regina looked in wonder as Mal went on her knees in between her legs that were open, one on the floor and the other one bent on the couch, leaving her core on display. When the blonde licked her lips, she let a whimper fall from her lips and her head fall back down on the couch, eyes closing in anticipation of what was to come.

Mal took upon the erotic scent of her lover's arousal and she couldn't wait to taste her. Softly, she kissed Regina's inner tights, moving slowly towards the brunette's center, where she needed her the most. When she came across her center, she blew cold air, making Regina shiver and she started the same trail she just did on the other tight.

Once she was faced again with the sight of red, swollen, wet lips, she bent her head and with a swept of her tongue, she took her fist sample of the brunette taste for the day. Regina moaned at the action and bucked her hips. She wanted more than the talented tongue. She needed the release Mal promised by her ministration.

Still, she couldn't stop the images behind her eyelids, and she wasn't seeing Mallory between her legs, rather the blonde head of Emma. She shook her head and tried to lose herself in the pleasure, not thinking about who was giving it to her.

The probing tongue came back and the brunette couldn't contain her moans and whimper, while her clit was licked, sucked, even softly bitten. To increase the brunette's pleasure, Mal slowly slid one finger inside of her, and after a few thrusts, a second one, and started curving them to touch the slightly rigged patch that brought Regina so much pleasure. As the blonde kept going on with her ministration, she felt Regina tightening around her fingers, and before her orgasm could take her, the door of the study swung open.

Emma couldn't quite believe what she was seeing. Disbelief soon left place to a feeling, quite acute, of anger, betrayal and jealousy. Before she could look at her teacher's naked body too much, she turned around and almost ran to get out of the house. The pain she felt was so intense, like nothing she had known before.

She heard Regina running after her, probably redressed, asking her to wait, and that she could explain. Explain what? It wasn't like she had some claims to the woman! At that thought, the pain that had seemed to take residency in her gut made her double in pain and fell to the cement balcony of the mansion. Clutching her stomach, she dry-heaved, her eyes blurring with tears that spilled over her cheeks.

She felt a soothing hand on her back, slowly caressing it while the other seemed to hold her hair out of the way. Finally, because of the sheer panic she had felt and all the physical consequences she had dealt with, bile rose in her throat and she threw up on the lawn. Sounds slowly came back to her, and the first thing she heard, beside of her own sobs, was soft-spoken words from the brunette because of which all of this happened. Remembering the events, she had to put her hand over her mouth, trying to contain her sobs.

When she felt soft harms around her, she trashed, almost screaming to let go, to let her go. Still, the brunette kept on cradling her, trying to get her to calm down.

Regina seemed in control, but she was a mess inside. The burning shame and need for her to try to be forgiven was disconcerting, to say the least, but she didn't question it. Not now, when she had her protégée in her arms, who obviously had felt something too at her sight on the verge of orgasming at someone else's – a woman, nonetheless – hands. She needed to protect her, it was like if her instincts were telling her. The young blonde in her arms was slowly calming, and stopped trashing, just leaning against her, and so, she petted her hair.

"Are you feeling better?" Regina asked softly, to try not to startle the blonde.

"Yes, thank you." She answered in a breathy exhale. Emma still didn't understand her physical reaction, but just thinking of what she had stumbled upon hurt, and she had to rub at her chest. It felt tight and uncomfortable.

Finally, she opened her eyes, and gaining back her bearings, she saw that she was coddled in the arms of her mentor. She jumped in surprise, or even in pain, away from the reassuring embrace of the woman, whose face displayed sadness, sorrow and a sad smile, that felt like comprehension.

"I am sorry you walked upon us, dear."

"No, it's alright. I mean, it's my fault I didn't knock on the study's door. I should have." Emma said, lowering her eyes. Why had she walked inside the house? She knew something was amiss. The only thing she didn't knew was what was actually happening.

"Still…" The guilty look never leaved Regina's face as she tried to capture back the eyes of the blonde to show her that her apologies were true.

"No. You can do whatever you want in your free time, no need to ask for forgiveness." The blonde bluntly answered, swallowing back the pain, trying to not show it in her voice "But, you know, I should really go."

"Are you sure you're ok to leave, Emma?"

"Yeah. And, um, I'm sorry for throwing up." The blonde added, before raising up, taking a couple step back from where her teacher's form was still seated on the floor.

"It's alright, dear."

"Right." Emma fidgeted, before adding, to help alleviate the thickness that hang in the air around them "Well, have a good day, Miss Mills." The tone of her voice left no place for any answer. It lacked the warmth that the blonde usually held around Regina. Her tone now seemed only defeated, sad, even pained. Like it was too much to talk to her, like it was heavy.

Regina shook her head, trying to get her ideas back in place and tried to will the pain away as she watched the blonde walk away from her. She rouse from her spot on the floor and tied her robe tighter around her waist before getting in the house again, where a smirking Mallory was still waiting for her.

"Really touching, Regina. Now, where were we?"

"No, Mal. You need to go, please." Regina said, before leaving the older blonde there and going into her room, clutching at her aching heart. What had happened?

* * *

So you made it here and I get that you are angry at me, but please, it is necessary for the plot, and there is a big reveal in the next chapter, so stay tunned!  
Love you all!  
-xx- GQ


	5. Heartbreak & Unique Reveal

**Hey! Thank you all for the love, the comments, the faves & favouriting(?), you are amazing! So, as requested, I am giving you this chapter, and I guess the plot thickens! :) Love ya!**  
 **As usual, sorry for the mistakes, they're all mine; this work is not beta-ed, and English isn't my first language. OUAT does not belongs to me, only the story plot.**

 **Love, GQ -xx-**

* * *

Emma walked back to the loft in a daze. The world seemed to fade around her, seemed tampered, as if her senses were filled with cotton balls, and the only thing she was able to feel was the pain that seemed to tear her heart apart. It was more than jealousy, and she didn't understand why she was feeling that way. Miss Mills was her teacher, for fuck's sake! There would never have been anything between them. Emma moved through something that felt like molasses, making each step hard, as if lifting her feet was almost impossible.

When she entered the loft, Mary-Margaret was behind the countertop, fixing herself breakfast, and looked at her daughter with concern. Something was wrong with the blonde.

"Emma? EMMA!" The forceful tone her adoptive mother used got her attention. "Why are you crying sweetie?"

Emma raised her hand to her cheek, and felt on her fingers the tears that she wasn't aware were rolling down from her eyes. With a jolt, she moved her hand as if the moisture had burned her, and she looked at the wetness still on her fingers with disbelief.

"I… I don't know." She said to her mother who had moved towards her, voice wavering. Emma felt the tiny arms of her foster mother around her, and suddenly, the composure she tried to keep crumbled away with the love and the care she felt in the woman's embrace. The tears that were slowly running down her face become sobs, and she collapsed in the arms of the pixie-haired woman.

Emma's knees weren't able to keep her upright, and she sank to the floor, followed by her mother, still secure in her embrace. The pain seemed to keep pouring out of her, and she barely heard the soft cooing and reassuring words the other woman was saying in her ear.

After what seemed hours of crying and breaking down, Emma's tears dried and her breathing regulated, as she found relief in an exhausted sleep.

Mary-Margaret and David were clueless about the reason behind their daughter breakdown. As the weekend passed, they still asked, but never got a straightforward answer, the blonde dodging the questions they had for her.

Emma's heartache kept hurting her, but as the weekend passed by, she managed to swallow back the bile at the idea of her teacher and her lover, and the tears as she felt the pain so acutely in her body, making her ache. She had to start to practice somewhere, right? Because if she couldn't manage to hold herself together even in front of her foster family, how would she be able to with her friends and when she would see _her_ in class?

Monday came soon enough, and Emma, still withdraw, dreaded to go to school. She knew better than to let her anguish show, though. Her friends would surely see through her easily enough, and she still didn't felt good enough to talk to them. She had a plan to avoid them as much as she could, and by doing so, she was sure she would be able to live her grief in peace.

The thing she hadn't considered, though, was that Lily was Mallory's daughter. As such, she was probably aware of her mother's affair… And the thought alone was gut-wrenching. If Lily, and maybe even all of her friends, had knew, they probably had a good laugh at her with her stupid, stupid crush, and would probably mock her even more for the heartbreak she was going through after she had walked on the two women.

Avoiding her friends was now imperative. And Miss Mills. Before she could break down in tears once again, she tried to turn her thoughts around, and entered the school grounds just as the bell rang.

The blonde found out that it was rather easy to escape the attention of her friends, even more when she faked happiness as she tried to do, and seemed to succeed, at least. The day went by without major incidents, but Emma grew more and more reckless as the periods went by and the two she had with the brunette teacher loomed upon her.

When the history period came, Emma was the last one to slip in the classroom and wasn't looking at her teacher, who was trying to grab her attention by any means necessary. But Emma couldn't help it, with the deep and husky sound of Miss Mills' voice, the lump that the blonde felt in her throat seemed to constrict even more as the time ticked by.

And so, when a forceful 'Miss Swan' was spoken harshly, Emma snapped to attention, and her eyes fell for the first time, since the scene she had stumbled upon during the weekend, on Regina. The tears came back full force in the blonde's eyes, softening the hard look that the brunette held in hers.

As Emma felt the tears running on her cheeks, she saw flashes of the scene she had witnessed, and had to cover her mouth with her hand. Bile rose in her throat, and the student ran out of the room towards the nearest bathroom, where she fell on the floor and threw up in the toilet. She suddenly felt someone taking her hair out of her face and holding them with one hand, as the other hand was running soothingly on her back, until Emma felt the nausea recede and she fell against the nearest wall, exhausted. Then, the presence went away, but came back a few seconds after with wet paper towel, sweetly wiping her mouth and applying one at the base of her neck and one on her forehead.

Sobs didn't stop, but she felt arms cradling her and she let herself be held, whoever was there. It felt good. After a few minutes of silence, the soft tones of Ruby broke the stillness of the bathroom.

"Ems, I think you should go back home for the rest of the day. You obviously don't feel well. I'm going to bring you your things, ok?"

The only answer the blonde could give was a croaked "Yes" with a slightly wavering voice, still full of sadness.

The next day, Emma knew she had to do something. She couldn't afford to lose it again as she had in the bathroom stall the day before. And so, she had to make a strategy, or a list of something, to keep her mind occupied at all time.

And so, as she entered her history class, and sat down, she took out a notebook and a pencil where she started a game with herself to keep her mind occupied. The lesson Miss Mills gave was lost on her, as she closed herself in her own world, and her teacher did not try to bring her back. Still, even if Emma felt the weight of the warm brown gaze upon her many time, she was left alone.

Emma tried to find the easiest way to get out of the class without having to talk to the teacher, as she was sure Miss Mills would try to. So, minutes before the bell rang, she put all her stuff in her bag and was ready to sprint out of the class. She was the first one to go through the doorframe, before the teacher could even utter a word.

Still in the classroom, Regina didn't knew what to do with Emma's behavior. She let out a sigh, seeing that her opportunity to talk to the girl had vanished, or rather, ran out of the class. She would have to try something else and corner the blonde to have a talk.

The next day went the exact same way, and Emma's friends started to pick up on her odd behavior. Of course, because of Monday, and Ruby's tendency of gossiping, they all knew that she had been sick and had written up her behavior to the illness, but they were Wednesday, and it had been two days that Emma had slipped through their fingers.

So, as they watched her, they saw that she hid something and that her comportment wasn't habitual. She acted different around Miss Mills, and seemed to hide behind walls that she rose to keep everyone away. It was suspicious for them as the blonde had lowered them when she was in their company.

When they learned that Emma had missed her counselling period with the brunette teacher, they knew for sure something was up, as the blonde liked the teacher so much and it was something they should unravel.

When they saw the blonde fleeing the class at the end of literature, Neal, Ruby and Lily ran after her to corner her and force her to talk to them.

Tink stayed behind and looked at their teacher, who was looking at the door with a deep frown on her face and a look in her eyes that mixed longing and sadness. When she got out of the class, she saw that the three other had managed to coax Emma to come to Granny's with them.

Tink, Lily and Neal sat down when they entered Granny's and Ruby moved behind the counter, tying her apron and started to work. Emma's instincts were telling her to flee, knowing nothing good would come out of the encounter. If she was to sit down beside her friends, she believed that she would lose her composure, and come undone. So she leaned on the bar, with her bag still on her shoulders.

Lily wasn't one to beat around the bush. "Ok, Ems, enough. What the fuck happened? Why do you avoid us and Miss Mills?"

As much as her friends tried to make her talk, Emma made her best to stay mute. She didn't wanted to spill her secret, even more as she couldn't understand nothing of it. And she felt sick of feeling sick. She just wanted to bury the memory she had, engraved in her mind. She wanted to forget. At the moment, if she could rip out her heart, she would have, without a doubt, to help herself feel less.

"I told you, _nothing happened!_ " Snapped the blonde. They were hitting on her last nerve, and without tact. No, Emma wouldn't give them the satisfaction of the answer they craved. The worse was Ruby, with her pout, pleading with Emma's eyes to have the truth.

The venom in Emma's voice made Tink and Neal recoil, as they had never seen their friend in such a state. Lily was unfazed, as she had already had been on the receiving end of the blonde's wrath a couple of times already.

"Sorry." She couldn't help but say, at the reaction of the tamest and sweetest of her friends. Tink was the most sensitive one, and Emma always felt bad when she ended hurting her.

"It's ok, Ems. I get it, you're not ready to talk about it. But we are your friends and if you need to confide in someone, just know we are here, ok?" Tink said, a soft look of acceptance all over her face.

It was always the small blonde's kindness that thawed Emma, and so, with a sight, and looking at her boots, shuffling from foot to foot, she exhaled and almost whispered. "It hurts so much and I don't even know why."

"What hurts that much, Ems?" Asked Neal, concern in his voice. He never liked it when she was hurt.

"I… I saw something I can't un-see." Emma sat down on the stool next to her; she understood that she was screwed; her friends were on her case, and she could not hide anymore.

"Something about Miss Mills?" Tink said softly. She knew her friend's mood was probably due to the teacher; after all, she had seen the look in her teacher's eyes at the rapid departure.

"Yes."

Ruby whined. "What, Emma? You're killing me, here!"

The blonde bit her lower lip, trying to swallow the feelings and the sense of dread that came with the questioning. "I- I can't!" She stammered.

Lily looked at her, her eyes boring in the green ones, as if she tried to find something. "Emma. Does it has to do with my mom?"

Emma chocked at that, and could only nod. Then, unbidden, she whispered. "I walked on them." She said, before adding. "You knew about them? Why did you not thought about telling me?"

"Because we thought it was just a crush, and she is our teacher, and because, well, they were… this is weird to say… kind of friends with benefits, nothing more. I know nothing else, I swear, Ems!" Lily rushed her explanation.

"WHAT? Your mom is sleeping with Miss Mills?" Ruby said, stunned by the revelation.

Lily rolled her eyes. "Yes, they used to, well, see each other like, once a week. But it stopped, maybe six months ago."

"And you never thought to tell us? Or even Emma?" The other brunette asked, pursuing her lips.

"Sorry that I never wanted to meddle in my mom's _SEX LIFE_!" Lily's fury started to escalate.

Tink intervened, before the two girls butt heads even more. "But, Lily, you teased Emma so much about her crush!"

"Yes, I know!" Screeched the brunette that was starting to get pissed at her friends. "But as I explained, it stopped _six months ago_! I didn't knew they were still… you know… And it's gross, it's _my mom_. I had enough just earing them, I tried to think about it the least I could."

"Oh, gross! I really didn't wanted to hear that! Now, I won't be able to look at Miss Mills or your mother without the image." Said Ruby, a small, disgusted frown on her face.

Emma, who had been silent till then, mumbled. "Imagine now having feelings and walking on them."

Nobody knew what to reply to that. Emma was right; they couldn't imagine how painful it must be for her. The silence was all encompassing for the next minutes, and then, Lily piped up. "Still, I'm sorry, Ems. I should have told you, or at least, not teased you that much."

With a small smile that never quite reached her eyes, the blonde whispered. "It's alright. I get it, Lil's."

"Well, now that we know and we got the reason you avoided us, we will stick by you. You're our friend, Ems."

Neal, who had stayed silent until then, spoke up. "Yeah, and friends stick together. Hey! What if we prank Miss Mills?"

Before anyone could answer, Emma snapped. "No. It's not because I don't feel well that you should take it on her. She had every right to do anything she wanted, and she don't answer to me in any capacity. It's sweet that you want to side with me, but she did nothing wrong. Let it go. I just need you to help me escape her if I can."

"Yeah, that, we can do!" Chirped Ruby, who was ready to have her friend's back with anything she wanted.

Neal hung his head in shame. He had thought that pranking the evil woman that had broken the most amazing girl's heart should be punished, but he knew Emma's arguments were right. But before he could say anything else, to save himself and apologize or maybe dive himself deeper, Emma's cellphone rang.

After a short conversation, away from the prying ears of her friends, Emma came back and took her bag that she had left on the floor next to her while sitting.

"Sorry guys, it was MM. I have to go back at the loft. Have a good night!"

"Goodnight!" They all threw back at her before Tink added "If you need to talk, no matter when, we're a phone call away, alright, sweetie?"

With a genuine smile this time and walking towards the door of the dinner, she answered back. "Yeah. Thanks, though."

Emma had left the class without even a word or a glance to her in the last two days, after Monday, when she'd been sick, and hadn't showed up at their period of scholar helping yesterday. Regina knew she had to act, or the student wouldn't stop avoiding her. The pain that the idea caused had her clutching at her chest.

So, five minutes before the bell, when everyone in the classroom was still doing work, she asked, loud and clear, in a way the blonde couldn't rebuke her. "Miss Swan, will you please stay after class?"

Emma pursued her lips, eyes downwards, but nodded at the request. She knew she couldn't avoid the brunette anymore. Hell, she even had missed her period alone with the teacher yesterday.

Of course, she felt the eyes of her friends on her at the request and, turning towards Ruby, made a small sign of the head to say that it would be ok to let her do this.

After the bell rang and the class emptied, Regina walked to the blonde's desk, in hope to catch her gaze as she spoke. She had missed the feeling of those sparkling green eyes on her. "We haven't had a lesson yet, this week, I think we should. Are you free tonight?"

"Yes." Emma reluctantly answered. Still, Regina felt that it was a good sign, as it was the first time the blonde talked to her since Saturday, and the brunette was ready to take the small victories she could have. Emma flung her bag on her shoulder and followed the brunette out of the class, her eyes still downcast, to her car. The ride to Regina's was silent and tense.

When they entered the hall of the house, Emma felt like chocking. It was the first time she came here since the… thing she had walked upon, and she hid a whimper behind a hand when her eyes fell on the door that she had opened to find them in such a compromising position. When the need to throw up receded, she pressed her chest with the palm of her hand, just above her heart.

Regina, had already walked in the Wiccan's room and as such, never saw the physical signs of discomfort Emma gave, neither the array of emotion that flashed in a quick succession on her visage.

When finally Emma walked into the room, Regina looked up from her book and smiled at her, a small, seemingly contrite, smile.

"Come sit down, Emma. We are going to talk about plants and stones. This will take more than one lesson, and you will have to buy books on the subject, since there is a lot, with each a lot of proprieties."

Instead of a verbal answer, Emma moved and plopped in the chair, still looking at her boots. Regina shook her head sadly and bit her lower lip before going on with the lesson.

"I am going to talk to you about plants and herbs first. It is really important, because they are one of the thing we use the most in the ritual, potions and offerings. There is a lot of witches that use herbs from the kitchen to do their magic, but they do need to consecrate them before. We also cook with those herbs and the magic that flow through our cooking is only beneficial for our own power.

"Still, we don't buy herbs dried and at the market. We have a garden in a greenhouse not far from here where we take care of a lot of plant and herbs. All of the circle take care of it from and use its crop."

"Nice." Mumbled Emma.

"One day, I'll bring you with me and show you how it is. I think you'll like it."

Now on the defensive, Emma replied "Well, I can go with MM and David, right, if it's for all the circle, right?"

Regina's heart constricted. It was painful already to be rejected as she had been, and ignored, but when Emma was pushing her away like that, she felt her eyes sting, and fill with water. She truly believed she had lost the friendship and companionship she had found in Emma. Oh, how she cursed Mal. She knew she had no reason to, because it was her own actions that had brought her here, but still, it was easier to blame someone else for her misery, that she did not understood. She needed Emma and that feeling was quite strange, as the girl wasn't even major yet, and was her student. She was baffled by that, and the more she seemed to ponder on that the more she felt her emotion going in every direction. She would have to make light on that, and soon. Taken out of her thoughts by a huff from the blonde, she finally replied. "Yes, if you prefer to go with them, you can."

"Ok, thanks." Was the curt answer she received.

"So, different plants are linked to magical goals or rituals and the Earth family has a special connection with plants. The things we study and learn about them is their propriety, magical ones, but also a bit of herbalism, as our potion are sometime consumed or even applied on ithe skin. If our studies were only about the magical side of the plants, it would be dangerous to give it to ingest or apply on the skin. So, what I will teach you today is about the way we use them in charms, pendants and spells.

"It's imperative that you don't forget that when you take from the earth, you have to give back to keep the natural equilibrium, and so, it's important to do it with plants too. The offering can be many things, such as water, or even a piece of bread dipped in wine.

"When we talk about plants, it includes everything that grows on or in the earth, such as the trees, the herbs, flowers and weeds. As for their proprieties, if you do a charm for, let's say, help someone conceive a child, you would have to use jasmine, mistletoe, mandrake and horehound in the ritual. If you want to help your visions, or do divination, the plants with these proprieties would be belladonna, poppies, balm, ash and eyebright.

"I'm curious, Emma. What's your favorite spice or herb commonly used for cooking?"

"Hum, cinnamon." The blonde student answered. Of course, it was her favorite; she was putting it everywhere.

Emma's answer made Regina smile. The blonde obviously didn't knew its proprieties. "Oh! Like hawthorn, we use it for desire and passion."

Emma blushed a pretty red, still not looking at her mentor, but her enthousiasm for the lesson couldn't very well be repressed. "Desire, you mean, like love, right?" Regina smiled at her naivety.

"No. Love would be roses, geranium, hyacinth, basil and the fruits and flowers of the apple tree, my personal favorite. Cinnamon is for _sexual desire_."

Emma couldn't say anything. She was quite embarrassed by the revealation. Why that spice must have been her favorite? It should have been something innocent, like her mentor.

"For healing, you would use mint, marigold, comfrey, cloves and apple, again, in your charm."

The blonde seemed quite engrossed in the explanation, finally looking at Regina, who was ecstatic about the progress, and she was soaking all the information's like a sponge. "What else?" She asked.

"Well," Regina replied, happy about the good mood the new knowledge gave the blonde. "I think the most important spells and charms are for, first, purification, in which you would use basil, rosemary and polygonatum odoratum, also known as Solomon's seal. Seconds spells and charm would be for protection, where you use the same herb as the purification, but you also add hawthorn, ash, mistletoe and Holly. In fact, basil and rosemary are two of the principal herbs of witches. We almost all have a crop of both at home, and we use is for cooking as much as for rituals."

Lifting her eyes from her pupil, Regina's eyes fell on the clock and she saw the hour. "Emma, it's almost seven. I should probably give you a ride back home, Mary-Margaret is probably starting to worry."

"Yeah, I should go. Alright." She said, raising from the chair, and moving towards the door. "It was nice, Regina, thank you."

"Wait, Emma. I'll lend you this book about the plants proprieties. Read and learn as much as you can, it's a really good book, very complete. Just… ring it back when you're finished."

"Ok. Thanks again."

The converstion stilled once again and Emma went back to avoiding Regina's eyes. The brunette sighted. At least her student was talking to her. It was progress, right? The ride back to the bug was silent and tense. When they arrived, relief was almost palpable.

"Thanks for the ride, and the class." Came from the blonde.

"It was nothing, really. Have a nice night, Emma."

"Yeah, you too." Emma finally said, closing the door of the Mercedes. She went to the bug and started it, before she saw Regina waiting for the yellow car to leave before doing it herself.

Friday came and Emma knew she couldn't see Regina and Mallory in the same piece yet; she would have to ask to her parents to lie on her behalf. She wasn't ready to go to the circle yet. Her friends knew it and were supportive, even if a bit disappointed.

The conversation that Emma had dreaded to have with her parents had gone very well, and with only a couple of words exchanged, Emma explaining that something had happened and that she wasn't ready to go to the circle yet because she needed a bit of time with herself, they told her that it was alright, and that if she needed to talk, they were there.

The sweetness of her parents was overwhelming, and she hugged them tightly to thank them with watery eyes. So, a bit before seven, they left the house, and Emma was alone.

When MM and David arrived to the mansion for the circle that night, they had to tell Regina that their blonde daughter wouldn't be able to come to the circle, since she was not well. Of course, the brunette saw through the lie, but decided not to comment on it.

The circle seemed to be lacking, that night. At least for Regina. The power flow didn't felt the same without Emma there. She missed the feeling of the blonde's magic. She was a bit angry at the blonde, as the teacher had thought they were past what had happened.

Monday, she would have to tell the girl that her presence was mandatory and that the magic wasn't a game that you chose when to play.

Emma spent the weekend in her room, pretending to do homework, but she was still trying to mend her heart. It made no sense for the blonde, the reaction she had, whether physically or emotionally. Of course, the feeling had started to fade a bit, but she still felt it from time to time.

She couldn't keep sulking, and so she had to go and push these feelings away. She had to find the strength to forgive and forget, since, in the start, there was nothing to forgive. It was all because of her silly crush on her teacher.

And there was Lily's mother. She didn't knew how to feel about her. She was angry at her, yes, but wasn't that irrational? She would never have knew if it wasn't for the open front door and her bad timing. She wouldn't have been hurt and her life would have just… resumed. She would still be crushing after her teacher, she would still see Mallory as Lily's mother, and a woman that flirted a bit too much with said teacher for her liking.

Analysing the feeling felt good, and Emma spent the major part of the weekend doing just that, writing down on her shadow's book the physical and emotional display of her heartbreak, and, as the nightmare with the fire had come back twice again, she tried to understand it too, doing research in Mary-Margaret and David's books, under a false pretense.

Emma's apprehension to see Regina has lessened with the work on herself she had done on the weekend, and so, Monday went by in a more comfortable way that she expected. The thing was, Regina seemed in a bad mood, and was all sharp edges during the class.

When the bell rang to announce the end of the class, Regina made a sign with her index for Emma to stay and wait a minute. The blonde, who was halfway to the door, halted all movements. Once the class had been emptied, the brunette turned to her student, a scowl etched on her face. The silence lingered for a few seconds, making Emma fidget under the scrutiny.

And when the silence became heavy, the brunette broke it, with ice seeping in her tone. "The Wicca is something to consider seriously. You can't decide, one day, that you won't practice, or come. It isn't how it works, _Miss Swan_." Oh. Regina was angry because she had missed last Friday's circle. Of course, she thought that Emma wasn't serious in her studies.

"Well, I've seen thing that I'd rather forget, if you get what I mean." Spat Emma, fury returning at the tone her teacher had taken with her. Oh, she was angry with her teacher alright, but even more with the strung up attitude she had taken. Wasn't the magic a gift, and shouldn't it be explored as wished? And what's more, Regina should have understood her reluctance to come to the circle.

At the acerbic tone and the accusation, Regina immediately softened, and unable to keep the anguish out of her voice, spoke to the blonde. "Emma, I know and I understand that walking upon that must have been uncomfortable. I am _really_ , deeply _sorry_ , and I hope we can move past that, because you are a great magic yielder."

"You… You can't understand, Regina. I get that you are sorry, and it's alright. It's just… I have to deal with things with myself too, and it feels like a lot."

"Emma. You know you can talk to me, right?" As it was a rhetorical question, the brunette enchained. "I do wish to continue your apprenticeship if you'd still want me to teach you."

"Yes, of course, I'd still keep your mentorship. It's just… You can't blame me if I balk up sometime. I have stuff to figure out, ok?"

"Of course, dear." Regina shoot the blonde a small smile that seemed more genuine than the last ones she had been giving her in the past week. "Are you up for a class tonight?" She added.

"Hum, yes, I think so, yes." Emma smiled to her teacher too, walking in time with Regina towards the car. Just before climbing in the teacher's Mercedes, Emma announced. "I had the image of my dress during the night!"

"Are you sure?"

"Hum, yeah, I think. I mean, I dreamt of myself in a dress, doing magic, but it wasn't just a dream. It felt so real, like I was awake, and really doing it. Like if I was conscious for it all. And the dress was calling for me, and wouldn't stop to have a pull on me."

"Well, it does seems like you are right, you've seen the dress you're supposed to have." The silence that lingered for a few seconds was broken when both the teacher and the student closed the doors of the car. "Then we can go to see Milah. You'll have it done for the circle on Friday. Do you want to do that today?"

"Yes, please!" Pleaded Emma, a smile stretched upon her features at the idea.

They arrived at ' _The Enchanted Forest_ ' soon enough, but the banter they had the weeks before wasn't there. The air was a bit stranded between them, even if they tried their best to move past it. The bell rang as they opened the door.

"Merry Meet, Milah." Said Regina, looking at one of her circle's member.

"And merry meet to both of you!" the shop keeper answered. "What can I do for you today?"

"Well, our dear Emma had the dream about her ceremonial dress."

"Oh! I see. Well, come here, and I'll do the ritual for the image."

Emma and Regina moved next to the counter, as Milah moved to the back of the shop and came back a few seconds later with a wooden bowl full of water. "Emma, I need you to put your hand in the water as you see an image of the dress in your mind. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes, of course!" The blonde answered as she did so. As she concentrated to keep the image at the forefront of her mind, she closed her eyes, missing the look of longing Regina threw her way. When the blonde opened her eyes again, Milah drew on a parchment sheet she took from behind the counter three runes slightly superposed.

"Look at this. She is using Ansuz for the communication, Gebo for her gift, and Laguz for the water." Said Regina, pointing to each rune as she named them. Emma was transfixed by magic exhibit and couldn't wait to see what would happen. Then, Milah blew on the sheet and the particle of magic went in the water, covering Emma's hand and made it tingling.

As the magic seemed to be absorbed by Emma's hand, Milah recited something else. "Tolle imaginem clare videam. Aqua potentia visiva, clamo ad te et dixerint tibi: da mihi visum."

With wide eyes, Emma turned to Regina, and the brunette understood her silent question. "This is latin. It means ' _Take the image and let me see it clearly. Water, power of sight, I call to you and ask you to give me the sight'_. And before you ask, no, you don't have to learn Latin. Only some sentences. But there is some families that force their children to learn it." Regina added with a sour look.

Emma understood with the face her teacher made that her family had been one of those. She would have to ask for more details another time.

"Now, take out you hand." Milah said, softly, making Emma turn her head from her staring. When the blonde did as asked, an image of her in her dress was on the top of the water. Emma couldn't help, she smiled, almost as excited as a child on Christmas morning.

"That was AMAZING! How did you do that?"

"Well, I am from the water family. We are known for our foresight strength, and so, we can read in the water, or, in this case, make an image in the water from someone's mind. Magic is quite powerful, and we are connected to water a lot. There is more proprieties than you can imagine in the water. I'm sure you will learn them all." Smiled the shop keeper. "Everything is ok. It should be done by Friday. I'll bring it to you at the circle. You'll be there right?"

"Yes, thanks!" Emma responded, before paying and leaving the shop with Regina.

The week passed by in a relative peace and Friday came fast enough. Dread pooled low it Emma's stomach. How could she look at Mal and Regina next to each other after the intimate act she had witnessed? She knew she had supressed the majority of her feelings, and things were going back to being bearable, being alright, with her teacher, but she wanted it to stay this way. From what she knew from the older blonde, she was the type with sass, and so, she would undoubtedly use it against her, as a way to humiliate her, or get a revenge, or as a simple power play.

She wouldn't have to acknowledge her and instead, focus on the circle. With this resolution in mind, she knocked on the door of 108, Mifflin Street.

Everything went well for Emma, and she hadn't been picked upon by Mallory, maybe because she had been warned off by Lily? She was grateful for her friend, and couldn't help but think about how much that conversation must have been awkward. On both sides.

Her new dress was not only comfortable, but also felt right and powerful. The white patterns were similar to Regina's red ones on the sleeves. The cut for the cleavage was quite low, and the upper bodice of the dress was form-fitting, not that Emma complained; it had attracted stares from all sides, and, the most important, from her mentor when she had walked in the room and into the circle.

The ritual started. The circle was formed with the clay and sealed with the consecrated salt. Regina moved to begin, like she did every Friday, but before they could call any elements, a low, red light, that looked like a string started to glow and pulse between Regina and Emma's pinky, and the red light augmented in intensity. Everybody looked at the light and the silence became eerie in the room. Then, as if what was happening just registered in Regina's mind, she stumbled backward, broke the circle and ran from the room, muttering something that seemed like 'No, it's impossible.'

Then, as if a silencing spell had been lifted, everybody started to talk at the same time, creating a brouhaha from which Emma understood only some snippets. When the voices started to calm and fade a bit, the stunned blonde turned to her adoptive parents with a bewildered look on her face.

"What was that?" she asked, still looking at her hand, where the light cord had glowed red.

"This was the red link." David's masculine voice answered her inquiry.

"And what does it means?"

Mary-Margaret cut her husband before he could formulate his thoughts enough to talk. "Some people, like me and David, are linked by their magic and, so, by the string. When you see it appears, at your majority, it means you have found your soulmate."


	6. Soulmates & Family Bonds

**A/N: Hey lovely reader! I am absolutely amazed by the answer this fic has recieved. You are all wonderful and I am so grateful for you all! Thanks for the reviews/follows/favoriting. It makes my day, and makes me absolutely giddy. You can ask my little sister if you doubt me ;). I am sory for all the mistakes, they are all mine, and since i'm a French-Canadian, well, English is obviously not my first language, so I am sorry. Well, the only thing that's mine is the plot of the story, then... Hahaha!**

 **I am sorry for the wait for this chapter. I was anxious to write it since the start of this fic, and well, i'm only half-satisfied about how it turned, but, well, I hope you will still enjoy. I need to tell you that somewhere in this chapter, our friends do a small ritual with a few drops of blood. DO NOT DO THAT ON AN IMPULSE. Blood bonds are really dangerous. If you want to do this, read about it first, and proceed with caution. Not only for the risks of blood-borne infections, but also for the the weight it helds IRL. It's a dangerous bond to break.**

 **On that note, I hope you enjoy, and I will try to write the next chapter as soon as I can! The plot thickens! :)**

 **GQ -xx-**

* * *

"I- Soulmate?" Emma's mouth opened at the revelation. She didn't knew what to say.

"Oh my god! This is amazing!" almost screamed Ruby, back from the shock of the new.

"I don't understand!" Raged Emma, before anyone could add anything to Ruby's comment.

"Sweetie, there is a lot of things you still have to learn." Mary-Margaret said, trying to soothe her daughter that seemed really out of depth. "I will try to explain everything to you, but first, I do think that we should cancel tonight's circle."

As the small pixie-haired woman take the reins for the closure of the circle with the other members, Tink, Ruby, Lily and Neal rounded Emma.

"So, it seems that you didn't had a crush for nothing!" Squealed Lily. Oh, she was happy for her friend and it explained a lot about the pain that Emma had been feeling when she had walked upon her mother and Miss Mills.

"Well," Emma started, dryly "I just understand nothing at all, but yeah, it's wonderful." Her voice was full of sarcasm.

"Oh, Emma! Don't worry, you have the perfect persons to explain everything to you. Miss Blanchard and Mister Nolan are soulmates too, so they are well-placed to answer any of your questions." Said Tina

"I hope it will answer my questions because this is so fucked up. I'm sorry, but I… It's just… Too much at once." The blonde answered, a pained look on her face.

"Emma?" Asked Mary-Margaret. "We're ready to go back to the loft. Will you come with us?"

"Yeah, I'm coming." Emma turned to her friends and, with only a small wave, she left the Wiccan room, and followed her parents to the car.

oo00oo

The ride was eerily silent, and quite uncomfortable. Once in front of the loft, even before David could switch off the car and take out the key, Emma had run to the front door of the building and attempted to unlock the door of the loft. Her hands were shaking, and she didn't even understood why. Was it anger, or maybe fear? Anguish or treason? Steadying her hand, she finally was able to insert the key in the lock, before Mary was behind her and with a hand on the blonde's back, she turned the key for her.

With a sigh of relief, Emma entered the loft and sat down forcefully on a barstool. She =waited for David to come in too before she started asking questions. "I don't understand. Anything. There isn't anything glowing between the two of you, first. Why's that? And why did it appeared tonight?"

"The link only appear when one of the wiccan is doing magic." Tried to explain David, with much less tact than his partner.

The words weren't soothing for Emma; she seemed clearly distressed. "But, I was there, two weeks ago, at the circle, and I've done magic for my dress on Monday and Regina was there too!"

Mary attempted to calm her daughter with soothing words and extended explanations. "Emma, slow down. We will try to answer to all of your question as best as we can. Usually, the Red Link only appears when the two soulmates reach Majority and –"

Emma cut her mother "But my birthday is only in two days! We are the 23!"

"But didn't you told us that you were _found_ on the 25th? Maybe today's your real birthday."

At the realisation that her mother was probably right, Emma's face crumbled. "I- I- Oh god! This is crazy! It feels like I've been lied to my whole life."

"We get it Emma. I must be hard for you. Do you want time to digest it? We can continue this another day, if you'd prefer." David tried to be empathic to his daughter too, but he saw how much this was some big revelations for her and could understood that she needed time and distance.

"No, I mean, I want answers, and then maybe I'll need a bit of time…"

"Ok, so, I will tell you our story, alright?" Mary-Margaret saw the need her daughter had to get answers, and she vowed to answer to anything she could.

"Yes, please." Was Emma's small plea.

"Ok, well, I met David here in Storybrooke. He just had moved from another small village, and had took upon the post of deputy at the Station. There was a pull between us, and I was trying to get in all of the worse situations to call him. He always came to the rescue, like a real prince charming. One day, I let my car work all night long to wear off the battery. When I called him for his help, he recharged my car and asked me to go and take a coffee. Of course, I said yes, and we went for coffee every morning after that for at least two weeks. God, I was already in love, and I couldn't stop thinking about him." Mary-Margaret smiled softly at David, who returned it.

"It was Litha when I understood that he was like me. Usually, people do not care for summer solstice, but we wished each other 'happy Litha'. It was quite the surprise, and it brought us to talk about Wicca. We are both from the earth family, and I thought that our connection came from that. I was way more naïve then, as you can imagine. So I invited him to the circle, it was still Ruby's Granny, Eugenia's her name, that was the high priestess then.

Just when Eugenia started the circle, as Regina did tonight, the Red Link started to glow between me and David. Since we were already seeing each other, well, we just went on our day to day routine, and we are together since then."

"It's cute, but still, it doesn't explain anything about the Red Link." Emma said, cutting the tale.

"Wait, I'm going to. So, we wondered what was happening between us, and it was Regina who explained to us the major part of what we wanted to know. Have you heard of the legend of the red string of faith?"

Emma was sceptical. "No, I haven't."

Mary-Margaret smiled, trying to comfort her daughter, before she went on. "Well, the legend is from the Chinese culture. The myth says that the gods tie a red cord around the little finger of those that are fated to meet. The two people connected by the red thread are destined lovers, regardless of the place, the time, or the circumstances and the red cord can't ever break. In our culture, we often call that soulmates."

"So, because of an old Chinese legend, I am fated to Regina." The blonde's tone was highly sarcastic. It was ridiculous.

"Not exactly. This legend is a contorted belief that comes from our magic, and from the wedding traditions in the Wicca that we call hand fasting. It has a real base, as two people that find themselves linked feel an undeniable pull, and the first stories of this link are going back to the first magical yielders. It was said that the link was a union sacred by the god and the goddess. So, once the link revealed, if the two destined persons try to stay away, it hurts the other, physically. It means that the time spent apart and the distance between the two should be reduced as much as possible."

After that revelation, something was plaguing the blonde's mind. She decided to ask. "And what about seeing your… other half with someone else?"

"It would hurt like nothing else and induce burning pain, probably in your chest, like if your heart was squeezed." Mary answered, puzzled about why her daughter would ask this kind of question.

"How do you know that?" Emma's voice was pressing for answers.

The brunette looked at her daughter for a few seconds before answering. She thought she knew why her daughter was asking that. "David had been with someone else before me, and I felt the pain, less deeply of course, but still, it had hurt. Why, Emma? Did you saw Regina with someone else? Was it what was wrong in the last two weeks?"

The silence that the questions created was heavy, and seemed to hung low in the piece. Then, with a small voice, Emma answered. "Yes. Yes it was."

"Oh, sweetie. You should have told us, we would have understood."

"Well, I only thought it was the pain of seeing a crush with someone else."

"If you need to talk about it, we are here, ok?"

"Yeah, thanks. But not now, because I have some more questions… Why did you not glow anymore? Does it, like, fade?"

"No. The link stop appearing after the relation is… consumed."

"WHAT? So you tell me that everyone will know when we'll have sex for the first time, because the link will disappear?"

"…Yes."

"Damn it! That's so unfair!" The parents knew it was a lot of information, so they let their daughter's language slide.

David, trying, too hard, once again, to alleviate the tension, said something he thought could help. "Well, some circles ask for the consumption of the union in the circle when the link appears, so, it's not _that_ bad." But the disgusted face Emma made proved him wrong.

"What's wrong with you, people? This is so humiliating. And she's my teacher!" She exclaimed.

Mary grit her tooth. "Emma, we aren't the ones that decided that!"

Emma huffed. "Yes, I know, sorry. So. To resume what you were saying, the red link means that Regina is my soulmate, that the link will disappear when we'll have sex, and that we can't be separated for too long or it will hurt. Am I right? Anything else you'd like to add?"

David, quite awkwardly, took the lead to answer that question. "Well, you'll find that when you make a physical connection like… when you touch or when either of you use their power, there is a reaction to it. Magic usually… arouse the other partner, and touching creates a fire-like sensation."

Seeing her dad's reaction, another question came up. She didn't understood how they could be so alright with the fact that she would probably go out with Regina, and, one day, also have sex. Emma was used to parents telling her not to do anything before marriage, but here she was, and it seemed like her parents were giving her their ok about it. "Why aren't you flipping out? She's like, your age, so it means she's much older than me!"

"Sweetie, of course we're a bit perplexed, but we can't separate you both or say no to the relationship you'll have. We don't want either of you to be hurt." At her mother's answer, Emma lowered her eyes, a small pleased smile floating on her lips.

When Emma finally looked back at them, she asked something else she had just thought about. "You are both from the Earth family. Does it means that I am fire, since there hadn't been any child created from two family, and Regina is fire?"

Mary took a soft tone to answer to the question. It was an inescapable reality for same-sex couple, and she was the one who had to break the new. She hoped that it wouldn't break Emma's heart too much, though. "Well, Emma, even if you both have magic, you can't have a child that's biologically yours and Regina's. So, no, same-sex soulmates aren't always from the same family... But we'll have to see soon from which you are. It would help us for your learning. The circle, next week, will be on Saturday rather than Friday, because it will be Samhain, Witches' New Year. We usually do a different ritual, and so, we can ask Regina to look into it at the same time."

Emma slowly nodded to the onslaught of information she just had been given. "Alright. Is there anything else I need to know about soulmates?"

"Hum, I can't think of anything else right now." Said Mary-Margaret, while David shook his head.

"Ok. Well. Thanks for the answers, but I think I'm going to turn in for the night. It's a lot to think about." Emma bit her lip, and furrowed her brows, trying to make order of all she just had learned. Mary cut short her thoughts.

"Alright. Goodnight, sweetie. If you have any other interrogations, you can come to us, alright?"

Grateful for her parents' openness, she hopped off of her seat. "Yeah, thanks. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Emma." David added, just before she started to climb the stairs.

oo00oo

Emma secluded herself for the major part of the weekend, trying to proceed what she had learned. She couldn't wait for Monday to come, to be able to talk to Regina. She always knew there was something special between the two of them, but this was a whole other level, and she needed to talk to her teacher to get help figuring it all out. What would they do? Date, maybe? Or would they have to wait for Emma to finish school?

She spent a part of the weekend writing her new knowledge in her Shadow's book, and putting it in order. Sunday came, and she received birthday wishes from her friends, and an enthusiast Ruby, who also pressed her for more details about what would happen with their teacher, questions to which she refused to answer. On one side, she didn't knew, and it was between Regina and Emma, and not their business.

When Emma was called for dinner on Sunday, she received a surprise. Beside the cake that Mary-Margaret had cooked for her birthday, even if they now knew her real birthday was the 23th of October, her parents gave her a gift that made her tear up. In the bag was neatly folded a bright red leather jacket that Emma had seen once in a shop window on the main street. She knew it would have been the first thing she would have bought once she would start to work, as it was so her.

With a lot of gratefulness, Emma hugged David and Mary-Margaret, tearing up a bit about the meaningful gift she had been given. She thanked them profusely before going to bed, getting ready for the next day, where she would finally see Regina.

oo00oo

Monday passed rapidly, and she was smiling when she entered Regina's classroom. As she settled at her desk, she tried to catch the eyes of the teacher, without success. After an hour of history and another of literature, the brunette hadn't even looked her way once, and she got out of the class before Emma could talk to her. A bit saddened about the way her teacher seemed to avoid her, she went back to the loft directly, not even talking to her friends. She knew she would have to try again the next day.

Tuesday went by in the same way, and Regina seemed even more insistent about avoiding Emma. The blonde knew she had to talk to Regina about all that she had learned, but it seemed rather impossible. At the end of the day, she remembered that she had a period with Miss Mills only every Wednesday, and she believed it to be her chance to have the teacher to talk to her.

Only, when she entered the classroom where they were supposed to meet, Miss McFly came in and told her that her teacher couldn't be present, since she had a day-long formation. Frustrated, Emma went to the library for the remaining of the period and sulked for the rest of the day. She wasn't even present for the classes. Regina was definitely avoiding her.

Thursday came and Emma was at her wit's end. Her head was throbbing, and her heart ached for the brunette's presence more than ever. The quick fix she usually had on school days when she saw her teacher wasn't enough anymore, and she knew she had to do something. So, in her dinner hour, she went to the teacher's lounge and asked for Regina, who came to the door. Once she saw Emma, she stood, frozen, as if caught.

"Re-Miss Mills!"

"Miss Swan. What are you doing here?" The brunette asked, a severe look on her face.

"I needed to talk to you!" the blonde pleaded. "Please!"

The brunette started to play with a ring she was wearing as a necklace. "I am sorry, but they are waiting for me. You'll have to address your questions to me in class."

"Wait! Please. Are you alright? Do you just need time?" Emma asked, clawing at her chest.

"I am just fine, Miss Swan. Thank you for the concern but I really must go now." The teacher answered, features softening a bit.

"Alright." Emma exhaled, seconds before the door closed between teacher and student.

The rest of the day found Emma with her head hung low, and not even listening to her classes. Her chest ached too much and her head hadn't stopped to pound. She just wanted to lie down in the dark and sleep off the pain.

oo00oo

Emma went back directly to the loft after her day. When she arrived, Mary was already there, and it was perfect for Emma. "Mary, can I talk to you?" She asked

"Of course, sweetie! What is it?"

Emma sat on the bar stool in front of her adoptive mother, watching her cooking, while she tried to put her thoughts in order.

"I… I want to talk to Regina about the link, but, hum, she seems to be kind of… avoiding me?"

At that, Mary turned to look at her daughter in the eyes. "Oh, Emma. I hoped it wouldn't be the case. Regina had lived some hard stuff…"

"Well, I can understand that, but I don't get why she avoid me at all costs. I mean, I don't ask for a lifelong commitment, I just want to have a conversation with her!" Emma fought the anger she felt rising in her.

"It's not my place to tell, sweetie… But you have to know that she had lost someone very important for her when she was younger and it left a mark on her."

The blonde pursued her lips. "It feels like I can't have a straightforward answer from anyone, and it kinds of bugs me."

"You'll have to find a way to talk to her, Emma. I can't tell you more." Answered Mary, her eyes full of sorrow for her daughter.

oo00oo

Well, if she had to work to get a real answer, she would do so. Emma didn't knew how long she could keep up at this pace, never having all the answers she sought; It felt like she was again in the system, manipulated, sent back with half-truths about the reason why her family was sending her back, or even lied to by the persons she was supposed to trust the most, like her social worker… So, she had a plan, albeit, maybe not a good one, but still. Cornered, Regina would talk, right? She would have no choice whatsoever. Emma couldn't let her have one.

So, the blonde left the loft and drove to her teacher – slash soulmate – mansion and opened the door without knocking. She had to take Regina by surprise and not let her the time to think about escape plans. Silently, she closed the door behind her and left her boots on the entrance rug, before walking silently to the kitchen where she could hear clatter of dishes.

Regina had her back to her, facing the stove, stirring something that smelled amazing. But Emma couldn't let that distract her, and so, she moved swiftly, posing her palms on each side of Regina, imprisoning her between her body and the stove.

When the brunette felt a body touching hers, she flinched and turned around as much as she could, while prisoner of the grip, a look of sheer fury etched on her face. She was about to use her powers when she saw that it was Emma's arms she was surrounded by. The fury seemed to recede somehow, replaced with a pained look.

"Em - Miss Swan. What are you doing here?"

" _'_ _Miss Swan'_ , really, Regina? Aren't we past that?"

Just as Emma had not answered her question, Regina ignored hers, and reiterated. "Why are you here?"

"We need to have a conversation, and you keep avoiding me."

Regina snapped. "No, we don't. And I don't avoid you, I just have nothing to say to you."

"Regina! You were the one telling me that I have to take magic seriously and you don't want to help me anymore! We need to talk about what happened!" Emma's impatience was starting to mount and she was ready to hit under the belt if needed.

Pain contorted the beautiful brunette's face. "I just… I can't. I can't deal with that."

The blonde answered, as best as she could to summarize everything she wanted to say. "I don't understand!"

"Emma, this is not about you!"

And that did it. Emma was furious. "YES IT IS!" She screamed, making the brunette recoil a bit. Seeing that, she took a deep breath and went on, slightly calmer. "The red link, Regina. We have it and they explained to me that it means we are _soulmates_. Isn't that something we should talk about?"

"It's more complicated than that, at least for me."

Emma pleaded. She wasn't over that at this point. "I need to know, Regina, because you know it affects me too. It hurts to be avoided by you."

Sorrow flashed a few seconds in the eyes of the brunette. It seemed to help her make a decision. "Alright. Come with me. How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

"Got anything stronger?" Said Emma, trying to relax the atmosphere.

Regina's smile was tight, and Emma followed her in the study, dread pooling low in her stomach. The teacher made a sign to Emma to sit down, before turning to the cupboard.

"What do you know?" Regina asked, her back to Emma while she poured in two glasses an amber liquid. She turned around with the two glasses in her hands, and handed one to Emma, who took it gratefully.

The blonde took a sip of her glass, and gave a small noise of contentment, before answering. "Mary-Margaret explained pretty well about what's the Red Link, and she also told me… Well, she told me that you had lost someone really important for you?"

Regina sighted. "Yes. Yes I did." She twirled the amber liquid in her glass, before looking up and in Emma's eyes. "I loved Danielle more than I have ever loved anybody. But the story does not starts there; in fact, it starts with _Mother_." The brunette spat the last word. Clearly, their relationship had no lost love, which was clear for Emma.

"Mother had always wanted power over everything. She molded me into the perfect daughter with rather questionable methods. As you may have guessed, I had to be fluent in Latin, and from a very young age, I knew almost everything there was to know about magic. But I was quite lonely. So, when I met Danielle, I was barely 16 and still in high school, and she had just turned 18. She was also a witch, from the earth family. I met her for the first time when I saved her from a horse that had gone wild and had thrown her off the saddle. We bonded so fast, it was so easy, being with her... And then, one day, she kissed me." A smile, wistful, was slowly creeping on the teacher's features. "We were together a couple of months before my mother caught us kissing." At that, the smile disappeared from her face, replaced by the darkness that Emma had seen a couple of time, fleetingly. This time, though, it stayed. "Mother didn't took the new so well, and Dani was hell-bent on getting her favour for my hand. We believed that we were linked, and that it would appear when I would reach majority. But Mother saw in her a way to keep me in line and in the same time, accomplish her goal, which was getting more powerful."

The brunette swallowed hard and closed her eyes. She couldn't stand the weight of Emma's stare on her. Not for the next part of the story. "I had just turned 17, and I never knew that Dani was doing my mother's bidding. I learned it when… When they found her dead, her body half-buried, in the woods. She had been drained from her magic."

She took a deep, shaky breathe, and opened her eyes again. "I learned later that this had been the price for the magic she used, on my mother's behalf. The law of the triple return had taken her life, leaving mother unscathed, and benefiting from what Dani had done for her. I haven't seen her since a few days after they found Danielle in the woods. I always thought my soulmate died with Dani. Do you understand, Emma?"

Emma tried to hide her jealousy. It was inappropriate, but she couldn't help it. So, she thought about the pain her teacher must have felt and it tamed her irrational jealousy, to give place to sorrow. "I am sorry for what you've been through."

"Thanks, but It was long ago." There was a small silence between the two before Regina added, looking at her glass. "I'm sorry, Emma."

"Whatever for?" She asked.

Regina rose her eyes and looked directly in the blonde's eyes while she answered. "For pushing you away. I shouldn't have. We are quite inevitable, and I knew it. I just… I really thought, for many years, that my chance at real love had died. It felt like a lot, but I shouldn't have taken it on you."

"I get it, now. Thanks for talking to me."

Regina had a small gibe to make the blonde react, and now that she saw that their previous easiness around one another was back, she believed it right to say it. "Hey, they do say that communication is important for a couple."

Emma spluttered. "You – We… What?"

The laugh that escaped Regina at the inarticulate answer was wonderful, and Emma just wanted to make her laugh to hear it again and again. "Well, it will happen one day, even if it's not today."

"Hu-uh" was the only answer Emma could come up with, making Regina smile, a blinding smile.

"Cat got your tongue?" Their playful banter was back, and they both felt it with relief.

"Hu- No. Cat got his own." Emma answered, an eyebrow raised.

"Really?" Regina's tone was sarcastic, and so, the blonde tried to rise up to the challenge.

"Yeah. See that?" Emma asked, before sticking her tongue out.

"Emma…" Regina warned, her tone dropping an octave. "You'd better hide that."

"Or what, _professor_?" almost purred Emma, a wicked smile on her lips. She knew she was playing with fire, quite literally, but she loved to rile Regina up, even more when it was giving her this kind of reaction.

"Don't underestimate me, dear. You have no idea what I'm capable of."

"Don't worry, I'll find out." Emma answered, with a wink to her mentor, and a crooked smile. Suddenly, her face turned more serious once again, with flickers of nervousness. "But, even if you're not ready to, hum, like, go out with me or something, yet, I, Uh- I'd like if we could, I don't know, talk, maybe?"

The soft smile that rose on Regina's lips was all the reassurance she needed. "It would please me a lot to get to know you more, Emma. Next week, after a lesson, you could stay here for dinner?"

"That would be nice!"

"You have to understand, though that I am still your teacher. So, if we decide to start something between us before you finish your year, we can't go out in public places." Regina said, furrowing her brows.

"Yes, I thought about that. It's alright for me, if it is for you too." The blonde answered, nervously picking at her fingers.

"Yes, Emma. I wouldn't have proposed it if it wasn't right for me too."

"Good! Amazing!" Emma smiled. "I really have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow at school."

"Alright. Good night, Emma."

"You too!" she said, before leaving the house.

The smile on her face wasn't erasable, and she slept as if she was on a small cloud, her first really restful night after the last few emotional weeks.

oo00oo

The day had gone in a blur, and Emma had agreed to go out with her friends that Friday, since the circle was happening the next day. The night, even if a bit cold, was beautiful, and they took their outing to the park, with a bottle of vodka that Neal had stolen from Killian's possession, before he remembered that Emma was now 18, and could, in fact, buy alcohol. Ruby was seated on a swing, with Lily and Emma on both sides of her, and Tink and Neal were on the grass, facing them.

"So, I drink to another year that has passed, in peace and harmony with the nature. We need to thank the goddess and do a small bond with a resolution or an oath for the New Wiccan Year and a closure for the past year, just between us. Are you down for it?" Neal asked, with a small smile.

"Hell, YEAH!" Was Ruby's immediate answer, followed shortly by Lily. "It will be amazing!"

Emma wasn't sure about what her friend meant by that, answered, unsure. "Ok, I guess?"

They were just waiting for Tink's answer, while she was biting her bottom lip. "Are you sure we should do it? You know oaths can be dangerous, right?"

"Tink, live a little! It's Samhain tomorrow, and we'll do the circle to celebrate with everybody, but we can have a little fun just between us!" Lily whined.

"Ok. Ok, I'll do it with you, idiots! Do we do it in a circle?" the short blonde answered. She knew that there would be less risks if she was with them then if she let them do it by themselves.

"No, we don't have all that we need. We should just do it in a meditation circle." Neal rationalised.

"That's actually a good idea! And what should we do the bond about?" Ruby had raised from the swing and seemed very pleased by the turn of events. She was smiling and bouncing around.

"Friend first?" Questioned Lily.

"Nah, we can't do that; it's too dangerous. And, we can't ask that from Emma, since she found her soulmate. Mills will probably come before us, and it's normal." Tink answered to the brunette.

Lily proposed, again. "Alright… What about being there for one another?"

"Yeah, that's a good idea!" Neal said, happy with the idea.

"And not too much restrictive. It will be perfect!" Ruby's excitement seemed to be contagious.

Emma, who hadn't said a word yet, asked. "So, what do we need to do, now?"

"A good meditation circle is usually done while sitting cross-legged on the ground, to connect with nature." Answered Tink. "And for the bond we talked about, we'll need a small fire in the center, a plastic bottle and a knife."

"Alright. I have both in my car, I'll be back." Emma walked to the bug and picked up a small Swiss knife from her gloves box, and the water bottle she had half-finished in her cup holder. When she arrived back, her friends were already seated on the floor, leaving a place for her between Tink and Lily, a small fire lit in the center of the circle with few wood branches. Emma suspected that magic had been used, as the circle was too perfect to be like that on his own.

"We decided to let Tink direct the meditation, if that's alright with you, Ems?" Said Neal, while she sat down and crossed her legs.

Her answer was immediate. "Yeah, it's perfect. Tink's amazing."

"Great. So we can start now. You have to take each other's hands." Tink started to direct. Everyone followed her lead, and Emma's palms were gripped by a small cold hand and on the other side, by a bigger one, that was quite hot to the touch. "Alright. Now, you all need to close your eyes and take deep breaths. You need to empty your mind from all trouble and let the power flow freely from you." They all followed the instruction, and soon, Emma felt the shift of energy in the circle. She was felling all of her friends' power through her. Lily and the heat of her fire, Ruby and the touch of the earth, Tink and the soft blowing of the wind, and Neal, with the salted taste of water. It was special to feel all the element so well.

Tink unlinked their hands and took the bottle, which she emptied on the ground in front of her, and the knife. "Good. Now, you will all take the knife and make a small cut on your right palm," She said, doing it in the same time to show them how it would have to be done. "before putting two small drops in the bottle while saying 'By this blood bond, I promise to be there for my friends.' And then take one of your hair, and put it in the bottle." The small blonde then passed the knife and the bottle to Neal, who was sitting on her right.

He did what Tink had asked, before passing the bottle to the right, to Ruby, who repeated the action, and gave it to Lily after. Once Lily was also finished, she passed the instruments to Emma, who whipped the blade of the knife on her shirt before doing a small slice on her right hand and repeating the sentence. She then took one of her hair and put it in the bottle with the four others. The bottle was given back to Tink, who closed it and put it in front of her.

"Please, hold hands again, and say with me." She said with confidence, while the four others obeyed. "For this year, I promise to be there for my friends"

The friends repeated the sentence, again and again, palm in palm, while Tink made the bottle levitate and fall in the fire. As the bottle burned, the cut in their palm burned, and the fire took a red color for a few seconds, before everything was over.

"We are now bonded to be there for each other for the year. This is a serious commitment, and if you break the blood bond, be prepared to face the consequences." Tink said with a serious look in her eyes.

They all nodded, face blank for a few minutes. Then, just as they freed their hands the chatter started back. Emma looked at her phone to see the time. It was almost midnight. She had to go back to the loft.

"Hey, it's almost midnight, I have to go back. Who wants a lift?"

At her proposition, everyone followed her, and Emma made the taxi to all of her friends' houses, before going back to the loft, where both her parents were asleep already. She climbed the stairs to her room, changed in her pajamas and fell asleep.

oo00oo

Saturday morning found Emma lazily staying in bed, until she was called for lunch, and in the afternoon, after her hour-long walk on the beach, she started on her homework, until she was called downstairs. It was time to go at Regina's for the circle. She put on her white dress and followed her parents to the car.

Once at the mansion, Regina opened the door and, because they were the lasts to come in, Regina went with them in the Wiccan's room, smiling at Emma all the way to the room, a smile that was reciprocated.

Once in the room, she saw someone who wasn't usually present, and recognizing Ruby's granny, she smiled to her brunette friend.

"We'll have a special guest tonight in the circle tonight." Announced Regina, a smile directed to the temporary member of the circle, who reciprocated. "Mrs. Lucas is gracing us with her presence for our circle, as you'll find that we will do a special celebration for Samhain."

"Regina, call me granny, please, or at least Eugenia. I am not that old."

"Maybe not, but you do are my elder, and you used to be the high priestess before."

"Fine. As you wish." Eugenia huffed. In Emma's eyes, it looked like a battle that they were often having, and it made her want to laugh, at her soulmate's stubbornness and granny's annoyance.

Emma took her place between Regina and David. The teacher turned to Eugenia. "Would you like to do us the honor of doing the circle, Mrs. Lucas?"

Everyone seemed to be smiling at her. The matriarch seemed well-liked, and with a small grunt took the salt, the chalk and started to trace the circle. The second the circle closed, the energy seemed to be contained in the circle, creating a powerful buzz in Emma, and she saw the red link appear between her hand and Regina's. Of course, that fact made her on the receiving end of crooked smiles and none too subtle winks, making the brunette growl. No one dared to comment though.

Then, just as the other circles, Regina took the athamé and a rice bowl, and turned to the north. This time, though, Emma knew what to chant with the others.

"We are calling to you, by turning to face the North. Strength of the Earth, stand by us, give us your strength and wisdom to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The process repeated itself with the small bowl with incent. "We are calling to you, by turning to face the East. Cleverness of the Air, stand by us, give us your intelligence and creativity to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The third bowl was put on the circle line, with a lit up candle inside. "We are calling to you, by turning to face the South. Vitality of the Fire, stand by us, give us your passion and energy to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

Finally, with a small bowl full of water, Regina turned to the West, and everyone chanted with her. "We are calling to you, by turning to face the West. Insight of the Water, stand by us, give us your emotions and intuition to proceed to our circle. Blessed be."

The tingly sensation that prickled at Emma's skin was the same she had experienced at the last circle, and the power that the element were brining was wonderful. It coated the air around them, but it wasn't a chocking or unpleasant sensation in itself, rather like an intimate caress from a lover. Taking Emma out of her reverie, Regina started to chant.

"As we are reunited tonight, we are here to thank the God and the Goddess to give us everything that surrounds us, as well as our magic. We give them our gratitude and open a place for them in our circle."

"Blessed be!" Everyone answered.

Then, rather than continuing, Regina talked. "This week, rather than expelling the power, I had something else in mind, if you all agree."

When everyone nodded their agreement, she continued. "I know that Samhain is usually to celebrate the dead, often in the family, but also our chance to do anew for the New Year, and close the unfinished business of this year. I thought of a way to reconcile those things together, and I came up with a celebration about family. It would serve to reaffirm the bond in-between members of a family, and can be used to welcome a new family member. We can use it to honor a member of our family who is now dead, and to reaffirm our love for them. Since tonight is the night of the year with the thinnest veil between our two worlds, they will be able to feel it."

Everyone was listening intently, giving nods here and there, seemingly happy with Regina's idea. Even Emma couldn't wait. A bond to reaffirm her attachment to her parents, a family she chose and that she loved, was a good thing.

The only thing she was worried about was the fact that she didn't know if she should add Regina to this bond. Being soulmates meant something, right?

Regina, seeing that her idea was well accepted, smiled and turned to the altar. She picked up some chalices, and gave one by family bond she knew would be formed. Granny received one, for her and Ruby, Nova too, for her and Tink. When Regina moved to give the next to Mallory, for her and Lily, Emma had to avert her eyes, and her hands went to her chest, over her heart. When Regina felt the pain the blonde was in, she turned away rapidly. She couldn't torture her love, and certainly not on that. The teacher then rapidly moved to the next family unit, Killian, Ariel, Milah and Neal, giving the chalice to Milah with a grateful smile. Finally, she turned to them, and gave the chalice to David, who smiled to her, even if she only had eyes for Emma.

Regina guided all of the families in the ritual, with the herbs to use, how much water to add, in which sense to turn the concoction… She led all of the way. When she asked every family to push magic in the potion, the room seemed to light up with love and trust and strength, and power, of course. Emma could almost taste it. It made her feel wonderful.

"The next step is much more personal, and will prove your bond to each member of your family. You will all need to prick your finger with a needle and let a drop of blood fall in the chalice. The color that the potion will take for few seconds will show the type of bond you share with each other. If it turns red, it's a familial bond made out of love, and if it turns blue, it's a biological familial bond. For those of you who are more than two, you'll all have to do it two at the time, and proceed to do all the family this way."

Regina gave small sewing needles to everyone. "They are all new. I don't want anyone to take risks, and so, I will ask you to throw them away once the ritual is over."

Once Regina took her place again in the front of the circle, Emma looked at her with so much longing that Mary-Margaret called her over. The brunette came to them, with a confused look on her face, but before she could talk, Mary-Margaret cut her.

"You are now part of our family, Regina." The pixie-haired woman answered, with a tilt of her head towards Emma. Regina offered a small smile and took a needle too.

They started with Emma and Regina, who pricked their fingers and let a drop of blood fall in the cup. The liquid turned a deep blood red for a few seconds, and returned to its original color, making the teacher and her student smile to each other. Then, Emma's parents did the same, and the result was the same. The blonde girl knew all of the results of her family would give red, but it was still a sight to behold. It was so much love, and it made her felt comforted and accepted, but most of all, loved.

Mary-Margaret pricked her finger, holding the cup, and her daughter did the same. The concoction turned red, and Emma teared up a bit. She knew that it was love that made a family, and she had just been proven right. She took the chalice from her mother's hands and turned to David, who pushed a drop of blood out of his finger, dropping it in the cup. Emma did the same with her finger, and it fell in the cup. Emma bit her lip, just as the potion started to change of color, and when she peered at it, she hiccupped, and let the chalice fall from her hand.

It touched the floor with a loud 'Clunk' and all heads snapped to them. Emma and David were staring at each other with a disbelieving expression on their face.

Then, Emma broke the silence. "Regina?"

"Yes, darling?" She answered.

Emma almost whispered. "What does it means? It must be wrong, huh?"

"No, the potion can't be wrong." Regina's tone was full of sorrow for the blonde. She knew Emma knew what it meant, and how betrayed Emma would feel. She knew her soulmate better than she wanted to admit.

"Then, why did it turned blue?" The blonde asked, just to see if her hunch was right.

Regina took a deep breath. She knew it would be a blow to both father and daughter. "Emma. David's your biological father."


	7. Potion & Past Mmemories

**AN : Hey! So I have this nasty habit of never saving and always keeping my computer and word documents open. I was halfway through the chapter, and my computer crashed. Since I am good with computer, I was able to save my documents – In major part.- But the part not saved and still open had been lost forever, so I had to rewrite it all. And I was halfway trough the chapter 7. So I'm really sorry about the delay, and I have to thank the lovely Ariel Hedgehog and Kingstonesong for their support and well, pushing. They helped me a lot to re-write it. Also, thank you for wondering if I was ok; I am!**  
 **Again, nothing belongs to me, and I am sorry for my mistakes.**  
 **Thank you for the fave/follows and reviews.**  
 **Love y'all! GQ -xx-**

* * *

How was it possible? David was even more stunned than Emma. "She – I – I don't understand." He stuttered.

Emma wanted to be angry at him, she wanted it so badly! But he obviously didn't knew either that he was her father, so her fury receded. "Well, you slept with someone, 18 years and nine months ago, and ta-dam! Here I am!" Still, even if her anger wasn't as strong, she had a lot of sarcasm she wanted to use.

Regina tried to rationalize it all, and in order to do so, she knew she had to close the circle for the night. Too stunned to participate, the opening of the circle was done without them, forgoing the signing, only thanking the elements and sweeping the circle off of the floor.

o00o

"Emma, would you help me for the brew?" the teacher demanded.

The blonde gave her an excited answer, with a big smile. "Yes!"

"It will be a way to see what you have learned at the same time." Regina took a few seconds. "You did read the book I lend you about plants, right?"

Emma nodded, sagely. "Though I am not finished yet."

"It's alright. We'll see where you are and take it up from there." The brunette chuckled.

o00o

Regina had left the room with Emma, leaving Mary-Margaret and David alone. She knew they had things to talk about.

The silence seemed to stretch with no end in sight. David didn't knew what to say, stunned, and Mary-Margaret was trying to compose herself. The betrayal and pain she felt were dulled by the idea that her beautiful Emma was really David's child. It felt right.

"At least we now know she's from the earth family…" She whispered. Still, her voice seemed to take all the place in the room, cutting through the deafening silence.

"Yes, she is. By me. I have a daughter, Mary." David replied, on the same tone, with awe in his voice.

The pixie-haired woman shook her head. "We had a daughter before she was revealed being biologically related to you."

David met her eyes for the first time since the revelation, his full of apologies. "You're right. She was ours before that. I am sorry, though." He had known what he had said was unfair. He had loved Emma even before she had been pointed as biologically his. She had always been theirs, no matter the genetics.

Mary-Margaret bit her lip a few seconds before asking the question that had been haunting her. "Did you knew? That she was pregnant before you left her, I mean?"

"No. No! I would have taken care of my child if I had. I wouldn't have let her in the system like her biological mother did!" David protested although he understood where the concern had came from.

Mary-Margaret surprised herself, defending Emma's other mother. "We don't know what really happened, David. Emma's memories might be able to tell us more. I trust Regina."

He nodded, before he questioned his wife. "Don't you want to know who Emma's mother was?"

The brunette tilted her head. "Well, I assumed you knew, right?"

"Yes. There had been only her before you." The sheriff reassured his life partner.

She shook her head. "Then, no. I don't need to know. It will only hurt me more. As long as she is a nameless woman, it hurts less, David."

"I am really sorry, sweetheart." He answered, with a pained look.

"I know. And I shouldn't be jealous; we hadn't even met at that point. It's only irrational, you know, because of the link." Mary-Margaret confessed, burying herself in the strong arms of David, who mumbled in her hair. "I love you."

"And I, you." At the sweet whispered words, Mary-Margaret and David sealed their love by a soft kiss.

o00o

Emma and Regina moved to the kitchen and seated themselves, before the brunette questioned the blonde. "We need to make a memory potion. What would you use?"

Emma took a few seconds to think. "Hum, Eyebright, Lilac, Orchid and Rosemary Flowers?"

Regina nodded softly. "Yes, it's really good. You forgot the Bergamot and Caraway though."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." Emma said, sheepishly.

"No need to be sorry, it's really good that you remembered all that in such a short time." The compliment that the brunette delivered made Emma smile shyly.

"Well. I want you to be proud of me." The student said, blushing, before adding rapidly "And I do want to learn too!"

It made Regina smile, before she moved back to the topic at hand. "But we don't only want your memories, we want to go back in your youth. Which plants would you use?"

"I'll… I…" Emma stuttered, racking her brain for an answer. "Oh! Vervain, Myrtle and Rosemary again are used for youth spells!"

The smile Regina gave Emma was blinding. "Very good Emma! You can also use Anise and Cowslip."

Emma nodded, biting her lower lip, concentrated on what her teacher was telling her. "Will we use all of that?"

"Yes we will. Well, we will need Violet and Bistort essential oil to help the sight, a Willow branch for the divination, and Jasmine, Mimosa and Peppermint for prophetic dreams too."

Emma looked at her teacher. "But we don't do that potion for me to have prophetic dreams! And even if we did, there's a lot more herbs and plants that those three for that!" She exclaimed fiercely, making Regina chuckle.

"I know, Emma, but the place where the memories come from is your subconscious, since they're old ones. You can't remember them by yourself. It's where dreams come from too. So it is possible you've dreamed about what we are searching for in your memories and you just don't know it. The herbs are used, in that case, to help your mind open. Not to create dreams." Regina explained patiently.

"Oh. OH!" Emma exclaimed, remembering something. "I had weird dreams in the last weeks, and I wanted to talk to you about them. That's why I came here when…" She faltered before she could complete the sentence.

The teacher gulped, knowing what Emma meant. Even she didn't wanted to talk about it, so she changed the subject. "You came to tell me about your dream?"

Emma nodded, embarrassed. "You told me I could come whenever I wanted."

Regina's shoulders relaxed. "Yes, I did. So. Now that everything's back on track, will you tell me about it?"

He blonde fidgeted, before she opened her mouth, to answer the inquiry. "Well, it's strange, but it felt so real! I was there, and there was two women voices, one that seemed quite… grim, while the other was kind and compassionate. I couldn't see them, though. The two women seemed to argue, and suddenly, the room lit up and it felt like it was burning."

Regina frowned. She hoped it wasn't a prophetic dream. "What were they arguing about?" She asked, needing to know more.

"The… mean voice was telling the other that she would have 'her'," the blonde started to say, using air quotes with her fingers, "no matter what, and the soft one was asking for the other one to stop, I think."

Regina frowned. "That's all?"

"Yup. I'm sorry I can't help more."

"No, it's alright, Emma. I am just worried about what it could mean."

"You think it could mean something?" the student gawked.

"I don't know yet. But you'll have to tell me if you remember anything else or if you have the dream again, alright?" Regina ordered, to what Emma nodded.

"I can do that."

"Good." The brunette began, smiling. "No need to worry for now. We should start on the potion instead."

Emma looked at her, eyes wide. "You have everything you need here?"

Regina laughed lightly, shaking her head. "No, but I'll call Milah. She'll get me what I need, and I'll ask your parents to go pick it up."

"Alright."

"Shall we?" The brunette asked.

Emma only rose to her feet and followed her to the Wiccan room.

o00o

Regina knocked lightly on the door, and opened it without waiting for an answer. David and Mary-Margaret were in each other arms, smiling. At the sight, Emma rolled her eyes. Of course they were still alright. Nothing seemed to be able to break them apart.

Before she could step into the piece, the blonde was engulfed into a hug.

"No matter what, Emma, you were still our family before all of that, never forget it. We love you." The pixie-haired woman said, while David, who was still a bit behind them nodded his agreement with the statement.

Awkwardly, Emma detangled herself and walked back towards Regina. "Thanks, guys. I do too."

The scene made Regina chuckle; the tension was palpable, but she was glad her soulmate had such a wonderful supportive family. She deserved it. Of course, she had seen how adverse to physical contact Emma was, and how tactile Mary-Margaret was. It was what made it funny.

Cutting the moment short, for the sake of her student, Regina moved towards the shelves and cupboards. She knew what she had to do.

"Emma, can you bring me the tray?" she asked, pointing to the other side of the room, where the blonde could see a silvery plate behind a row of books.

She did as she was asked, and Regina thanked her with a small move of her head, before turning back to the task at hand. She picked up a few leaves of different plants, sometimes dried, sometimes directly from the plant, as she was moving around, depositing a few bottles and bowls on the tray that Emma was holding, some identified, some others no. She mumbled a few times, things that her student didn't get. She finally turned back to Emma and looked at the, now almost filled, tray, seemingly taking inventory.

"Can you name what you have there?" Regina then asked her with an eyebrow raised.

"Hum." Emma was trying to do as she had been asked, but she wanted to be right. She had to impress her teacher. "You have, here," she started, pointing at small, dented, smelly green leaves, "obviously, peppermint." Embodied by her first answer, she went on. "The small purple flowers are the Lilac, and the flowers with the two petals, there, are orchids."

The next item the blonde talked about was a small branch with coniferous-like leaves, and small flowers all over. "This is Rosemary, fresh, with its flowers. The small white flowers, with a yellow center are Eyebright, and "

Regina nodded at the answers. Emma was doing really well.

Emma went on after her teacher's approval. "The rice-like seeds are the caraway, the branch, from a Willow tree," she continued, before pointing to a steam with elongated leaves and a long end covered in purple flowers, dried. "This is the Vervain, the small blue berries are the Myrtles, and the star-like brown rind is the Anise."

Emma's parents were listening to her, impressed, and the pride was visible on the three pair of eyes.

"There's only two left. What are they?" Regina quizzed.

"There's the violet oil, here," Emma continued at the prompting, "And the beautiful white flowers are Jasmines."

The smile she received from Regina made her heart hammer. It was illuminating the whole room. "It was perfect, Emma! Congratulation. I must admit that I am really proud of you."

The blonde smiled at the praise. She had done it. Regina had to severe the connection their eyes had made, to get what was missing. And, well, the blonde would be with her in the meantime; alone with her.

Moving towards Mary-Margaret and David, she couldn't help herself but look back a few times to Emma, before she finally focused on the girl parents. "I need you to go pick me up what I'm missing from Milah's."

David was the first to nod, eagerly. He wanted to feel useful. "What do you need?" He asked.

"Can you remember all of it?" She asked, frowning.

This time, Mary-Margaret answered for her husband. "Of course he can; and if not, I'm here too."

Regina exhaled. "Fine. I need Bistort and Bergamot essential oil, a dry mimosa flower and a few cowslip."

They both nodded, and with a smile for Emma and a "See you soon!" a bit too emotional, they finally left.

o00o

Emma and Regina were left alone in the Wiccan room. The silence was heavy, tense with unspoken things and desire, making them both fidget. When it became unbereable, Regina decided to take the lead and break it. "There's only one person who can go back in your memories with you, Emma. You have to choose."

The blonde looked up at her. "Can it be you?"

Regina was deeply touched by the gesture of confidence her student was giving her, but knowing what would happen, she had to be sure Emma also knew the implications of what she was asking. "Are you sure you want me to go? We'll see a lot more than just the part we're asking for."

Emma took a few seconds before answering. "Yes. I'm sure."

"Alright, then." Regina said, tilting her head. "While we wait for your parents," She started, noticing the wince the blonde made at the words parents, filling it for later, "We could start on the mixture, as the shouldn't be long. Would you want to help me?"

The student nodded eagerly, earning a smile from Regina. "Good, then. We will need some other things before we can proceed. A caldron, a white, a purple and a blue candles and vanilla incense for memory."

"Why the candles of those colors?" questioned Emma.

"Well, all the colors of candles have a signification." The brunette started to lecture. "We use the white one today for its propriety of truth seeking, the purple one for the help with magical abilities, powers and meditation, and the blue one for the truth and the link with the mind." She finished

"Really? So I will learn the colors too? And incents?" The blonde was eager to learn more. It was fascinating, and a never ending process of learning. She liked it.

The teacher nodded, her features soft and open at the visible excitement of her student. "Yes, you will. But plants are now your focus, because there is many and it's an integral part of the Wicca."

"Yeah, I get it." Emma piped.

"So, now, can you please get me the caldron that's on the altar? I'm going to grab the candles and the incent."

Emma nodded and rose, before going to the altar and taking the black caldron with a pentacle that was engraved in the front. She lifted it, and stumbled on her feet with the weight she hadn't expected. It was way heavier than she expected. Whit her two hands on the handle, she brought it to the center of the piece where they were sitting before and with a loud 'thud' she let it down on the floor. "Wow, that was heavy!" she said, to her teacher who was still rummaging around the cupboards, with the candles in hand.

Regina turned her head and flashed a smile to her student. "Sorry, I never thought of warning you."

With a wave of a hand, Emma waved off the apology. "Nah, it's alright. I was just surprised." She finished, as the brunette walked back to her.

The tension mounted in the silence that followed. Their eyes were locked, and an unmistakable hunger was visible through them. Regina took a step towards her student, and Emma did the same. Their breathing were mingling, chests heaving in anticipation. Just as Regina was about to close the gap between the two, and let her lips slide over the blonde's, the door of the entrance closed loudly, and a feminine voice shouted "We're back!" making them sprung apart.

Emma stuttered "So-Sorry!" to which Regina answered with a shook of her head and a swipe of her hand on Emma's cheek. "We both wanted it, darling. Nothing to be sorry for."

The blonde's gaze shifted from the brunette's eyes to her lips while she nodded. When Regina saw it, she bit her lower lip before whispering "We'll have our chance. Soon."

Just as she finished her sentence, Mary-Margaret and David entered the room, oblivious, with relieved smile plastered on their faces. "Is everything still alright?" the pixie-haired woman asked.

"Yeah!" Emma answered, trying to sound nonchalant, while Regina was nodding.

"So, we have everything you asked for. Though we were lucky, the mimosa was the last one, from the personal herbier of Milah."

"Have you thanked her properly for me, then?" Regina asked, with a soft smile.

"Yes," David started, "And you know that woman would do anything for you anyway, Regina."

The brunette had the grace to blush, as Emma looked at her, raising an eyebrow. 'Anything for you?' the blonde mouthed, to the brunette, whose blush deepened. "Yes, well, she's a dear friend."

Emma's face turned stony. "Which kind of friend?" her tone was icy, and it made everyone wince.

"I helped her when times with Mayor Gold were hard. We are just good friends." She hastily replied, not wanting to hurt Emma more.

The blonde relaxed at the admission. "Oh… Sorry!" She said sheepishly.

"No, it's ok… I – I get it."

David, wanting to change the subject, clapped his hands, drawing the attention to himself. "Shouldn't we start, if we want to see what happened?"

Everyone nodded, redirecting their attention to the subject at hand.

"Emma asked me to be the one to go in her memories with her."

"I think it's a good thing," David started, "You might be able to see more than us, as we are prisoner of our own demons in the face of her mother."

"You know who she is?" Emma pipped.

David nodded. "Regina will probably recognise her too."

"Me? I know Emma's mother?" Regina was puzzled. Who could it be?

"Yes." Was David's answer. "But, you'll see."

"Alright. Then, we should start on the potion. Emma, can you come sit in front of me?"

"Yeah," Emma began. "How do you want me to sit?"

"Just like me; legs crossed, and your knees touching mine. We will need a physical connection."

Emma did as she was asked, the caldron on her right, and the herbs and oils beside it. "What next?"

"We need your parents to close an energetic circle around us before we begin." She replied, with a head movement for the two. When they got closer, Regina instructed them. "You need to concentrate and use your magic to draw a circle on the floor with your magic, large enough to encompass us inside. Raise your hands," she said, as they did so, following the instructions. "and feel your magic pouring out, encasing us in a magic, just like you would do for a circle." When Regina felt the shift of the magic in the air, she nodded. "Now, repeat after me : Clausero circuli risus. Qui est dux in auxilium vocant inclusit."

Mary-Margaret and David, still eyes closed, doing magic repeated the words. Emma looked at Regina for an explanation, and whispered "What did that meant?"

Regina smiled and rose a finger to tell her to wait a minute. "Now, when you feel the magic closing around us, you can retract it. We will be inside the circle." The silence went on for almost a minute, before they, almost simultaneously, lowered their hands and opened their eyes back. Mary-Margaret was the one to break it. "We felt a shift in our magic, as if something was closing."

Regina nodded. "Perfect. It meant that your magic closed the circle and you felt it. The thing is that type of circle is different than our usual ones. It serves well our purposes, as the magic will be potent enough to encase everything that's happening inside. So, there will be no unwanted interferences. Can you see the faint glow on the floor? It's the circle you just produced."

The black-haired woman nodded.

"And to answer Emma's curiosity, the sentences in Latin I asked you to repeat meant 'I am closing the energy circle; I am calling assistance to help those who are inside.'"

Emma smiled. "Well, it was pretty cool. You're beautiful when you speak Latin." Emma blurted, before looking in her lap, blushing.

"Thank you, darling." Regina laughed, looking at her student with a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. "I'll be sure to speak Latin, if I am fishing for compliments." She added with a wink, making Emma's blush deepen. Shaking her head, she turned back to the matter at hand, serious again. "I will need your help for this, Emma."

o00o

Emma and Regina worked as a team, and the blonde was following everything Regina was asking of her. They first dropped the plants for the memory in the caldron, when Regina gave her the Willow branch and asked her to make 7 circles clockwise, while saying 'memoria, et revertimini ad me. Quid ego perdidi.' which meant 'memory, come back to me. I must find what I have lost.'

Once she had done that, Regina dropped the plants for the youth, asking her to repeat her actions, while saying 'memoria praeteritorum, ut videam te, iuvenis meminisse quod quaero.' The brunette translated it to 'memories of the past, let me see you again, to remember in my youth what I seek.'

The Jasmine, Mimosa and Peppermint were put in the caldron next, as Regina lit a fire underneath it.

"The plants will burn together, and create a cindery liquid because of the oils we will put in. While the fire is still lit, Emma, I need you to do three circle counter clockwise." Emma didn't reply, but did as she had been asked.

"Oh! The flowers are burning!" Emma pointed, to what Regina nodded.

"Yes, it's what's supposed to happen, to help them mix together."

Emma pursued her lips and looked at her parents, outside the circle, who had been silent since the beginning of the ritual. They made a small head motion to her with a smile, and Emma returned her attention to the caldron, where cinders were at the bottom.

"Now, we add the Bistort, Bergamot and Violet oil." Regina instructed. "7 drops of each, before stirring again three times counter clockwise."

Emma obeyed, and looked at Regina once she was finished.

"Is it alright?" The blonde wondered.

"Yes, darling. It was perfect. Now, you need to sit back." The student did what was ordered as soon as the brunette asked. "We will lit the candles and incent." She continued. "Close your eyes and take a few deep breath. Empty your mind."

Emma nodded, and tried to stop her thoughts. It wasn't easy to do, but she managed, and her breathing patterns deepened. She was feeling the magic buzzing in her body, the sounds were stronger; the rustling of the ceremonial dresses, the buzz of the electrical system around the house, the hearts beating, the clocks, even the people and the cars around town. The perfumes from the room hit her suddenly; the odor of the plants stored around and the burned ones, the deep scent of the vanilla incent, the perfumes of her parents, and the scent of Regina's skin, stronger than anything else, making her mouth water. She knew if she was to taste or touch something, she would felt it way more than usual, just like if she was to open her eyes, she would see better. It was still a rush she experienced, and she had to take a few seconds to get used to the sensation assailing her senses. When she made a small nod, her eyes still closed, Regina continued.

"I will draw on you with the cinders. Some will be runes, some just patterns useful. You will also feel the tingling of my magic, alright?"

Emma nodded at the explanations. The brunette reached in the caldron to swipe some of the potion with her fingers, and took Emma's hands, starting to draw on the back of them while explaining. "This is the rune Ansus, for the communication. I will draw them on my own hands too, to be able to follow you."

She returned to the caldron, taking some more, before going to Emma's forehead. "This is the rune Dagaz, for clarity and revelations," she clarified, while drawing, before moving to the blonde's lips. She made three spirals, connecting in their center, and the finger on her lips made Emma shiver. "This is a triskelia, or triskele, representing the goddess." Regina revealed, before she lowered her hand. While her fingers were putting patterns on her student's collarbones, she informed. "This is the rune Jera, reversed. As Jera is used for growth, reversing it can be used for abatement, decreasing."

Emma hummed in understanding, eyes and lips still closed.

The teacher went back to the caldron, taking more of the concoction, and drew a final pattern over the blonde's heart. "And you remember, finally, the pentacle."

Emma nodded lightly, before Regina took her hands, their knees touching. "You need to hold on to my hands, and when you are ready, you need to say 'Ego sum ut viderem.'"

Emma took a deep breath and opened her lips. "Ego sum ut viderem." She repeated, and all became black, soundless.

o00o

When Emma opened her eyes, with only one of Regina's hand in hers, she looked around; they were in a white, bright room.

"Where are we?" Emma whispered, not wanting to be too loud, just in case.

Regina smirked. "Why, in your head, Miss Swan!"

"Why is it so white?"

"This is the result of you emptying your mind as I asked. Now, you need to think as yourself as an infant. Think about your mother, anything you know about yourself as a baby."

"Alright." Emma said, closing her eyes again. She remembered by heart the paper's article about her. A house on fire not far, herself left in a blanket with her name stitched on it, being found by the firemen, a family she knew nothing about, a mother willing to leave her… the first of many. When she opened her eyes again, the sounds were back, and they were in a small piece, richly decorated, where a blonde woman was pacing, with her back to them, holding a tiny bundle in her arms, in a white blanket, with 'Emma' stitched on the top.

" _Shh! Shhh_!" the woman cooed, visibly trying to soothe the baby that was crying quite loudly.

"Is that me? So the woman is my mother? Can she see us?" Emma fired her questions to Regina in a hushed tone, in case the woman could, in fact, see them.

Regina shook her head. "No, she can't. This is a memory, like a film of what happened, shown to us by your subconscious. This happened, but the memories are hidden in your subconscious."

Emma nodded and started to walk to the woman. She wanted to see that woman that had given her up, that now seemed so loving and taken by the baby she was holding. When adult Emma started to move, the woman went to the rocking chair, in the corner of the room, showing her face to teacher and student.

Regina gasped. "Kat?"

Emma turned to Regina. "You know her, for real?"

The brunette nodded. "Kathryn. We went to school together; she was one of my only friends, before she moved. She never knew about Danielle dying, as she moved before."

Kathryn started to sing a lullaby to the child in her arms, lulling her to sleep, before depositing her in her crib. When she was sure the child was comfortable, the older blonde drew patterns around the crib, and Regina answered to Emma's unspoken question. "She's protecting your crib and you, with her magic and runes."

"Oh!" Was Emma's comment.

Before she was finished, Kathryn's head rose, and her panicked eyes spoke volumes. She had felt something. She did the charms over the crib faster, and finished a few seconds before the door slammed open, revealing a purple-cloaked figure.

" _What are you doing here?_ " Kat growled. " _I warded off my house._ "

A laugh, feminine and cruel came from under the cloak. Just as the woman removed the hood of her cloak, she said, making Regina recoil. " _You should know by now that your wards can't stall me for long_."

Beside adult Emma, Regina whispered. "Mother." Making the blonde turn her head to her teacher.

"This is your mother?" She asked, finally taking in the woman. She had auburn curls, framing her face, a sneer etched on her face, and she exuded power.

"Yes." Came stranded, from Regina.

" _Cora. What do you want_?" Kathryn snapped.

The smile Cora gave the blonde was frightening. " _From you? Nothing. I want your baby_."

Kathryn was fierce. She knew she would protect her little Emma with her life, and she knew she was strong, just like her protection she had just put around the baby's crib. " _No! You won't touch her_!"

" _You should know that I always get what I want_." The older brunette pointed out.

" _Well, not that_." Kat hissed.

" _I will kill you and have that baby!_ " Regina's mother boomed.

" _Why are you doing this_?" Kathryn breathed. " _You don't have to_!"

" _Because,"_ Cora begin, her voice full of malice _. "By you, she is Wind; and by her father, David, she is Earth_."

Shock overcome Kathryn's voice. " _What? No! David_ isn't _a wiccan_!"

" _Oh, my dear, innocent girl;" Cora mocked, patting her cheek condescendingly. "Yes he is. You have done what had never been done before. Your child is from two family. She will be powerful, and I need her_."

" _No! I will protect her_!" Her tone became fierce again, but had an underlying tone of fear too.

" _Sadly, you won't escape this, but the little girl will, with your charms over her crib. I'll just come and… collect her, because the charms surrounding her will fall with your death."_ Cora said, raising her hands slowly on each side of her. Flames started to engulf everything around the house, licking the walls, burning the house. " _I'll have her, no matter what and you know that!_ " the brunette added, turning around to leave, with a crazy cackle.

" _Stop that, Cora!_ " Came, pleading, from Kathryn.

" _Not until I have the baby_!" She answered, leaving the house, walking through the fire.

Cries could be hear from everywhere, and Emma and Regina could only look at what happened, though both were distressed, holding the other's hand harder and harder.

Kat was coughing, from the smoke in the house, hunched over the crib. She took the child in her arms and seemed to call forth her magic, before she threw her hands in front of her, creating a powerful corridor of air, permitting her to walk out of the house untouched by the fire. She ran along the hallway, down the stairs, before she was outside, panting, inhaling fresh hair, followed by Emma and Regina.

Baby Emma had started to scream again, fat tears falling down her cheeks. Kathryn looked down at her. " _I love you, my little Emma. I have to do this to save you. I hope you will be safe, and that I would be able to see you again someday_."

Adult Emma was crying too. She knew what was coming next; but now, she understood. It wasn't because she was unlovable; her mother had given her up to give her a chance to survive.

Kathryn walked to a near road, and started to charm the blanket and Emma. " _As long as you have that blanket, Cora won't be able to find you with magic. I need to go, my love, to save you. I will be on the run to protect you_."

Tears were falling from her eyes. " _I love you. I hope you'll always feel it. And you will do great things in the future. You will be so powerful_." She finally said, raising, and moving back to the burning house, running. Soon, the older blonde was out of sight, and they couldn't move as it was Emma's memories.

"She abandoned me to _save_ me!" Emma sobbed. "She loved me so much that she saved me!"

Regina didn't say anything, knowing it would be unwarranted. Nothing could be said after that revelation, nothing strong enough. She was feeling the anger and betrayal from her mother's actions. Cora had ruined another life. From what she knew of Emma, the girl had never found a love as deep and powerful as her mother's seemed to have for her. Regina moved end encased Emma in her arms, as the girl sobbed, giving a kiss on her hair, trying to soothe her.

Emma sniffled. "It was- It was like my dream."

Regina nodded lightly. "Emma," She whispered, "We should go back, now, darling."

The blonde nodded in the brunette's neck, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Ok, you'll need to repeat after me. 'Vidi quod quaerebam.'"

Emma's voice steadied. "Vidi quod quaerebam."

At the words, the images around them spun, and snippets of young Emma, returned to the foster home, yelled at, unloved, pushed away, again and again losing families flashed around them. Emma's life was shown around them. It was heart wrenching, and Regina felt her heart constrict for the little girl Emma had been. She understood now, she had seen it all, the light snuffed out slowly out of her eyes, her hopes to find a family crushed each time she was deemed 'not enough' for a family, 'problematic' for another one... Her embrace around Emma tightened, before the images stopped.

o00o

When Emma and Regina opened their eyes, tears were flowing from both their eyes, but their position hadn't changed from when they had left for Emma's memories. Regina was still holding the blonde's hands, knees to knees, sat on the floor.

When the brunette saw the distress in the green eyes she cared so much about, she tugged on Emma's hand, making her fall in her lap. Regina took her again in her arms, and Emma let herself sob, hiding in her face in her soulmate's neck.

The brunette looked at Mary-Margaret and David, asking to undo the circle, before she spoke. "Kathryn was attacked by my mother and she had to leave Emma to protect her." She said, resuming what they had seen.

"Kathryn? Your Kathryn is Emma's biological mother?" Mary-Margaret asked, in a high pitched voice.

"Yes. And Cora found her, because Kathryn is… Or was… also a Wiccan. From the Wind family."

David yelped. "WHAT?"

Regina nodded sadly, seemingly crestfallen. "Emma's from two families. Earth and Wind. She's probably the child the prophecy was talking about."

"No!" Was softly breathed by Emma's mother.

" _The polar soul of the wind family was visited in its dreams by the goddess. Her message was a great concern. 'The lost child, one polar soul, will be born from the union of Earth and Wind. Its powers will be magnificent, she will be their savior, if the child chose the good; for if there is no tether for that soul, the child could become destruction.'_ " Regina recited, from memory, before she commented. "The lost child. She was lost to both you and Kathryn," She started, addressing to David, "And she had been a lost girl. She is, obviously, a polar soul, as she is linked to me, and she is the product of Earth and Wind."

"But Emma's as pure as you can be!" Mary-Margaret exclaimed. "She can't be bad, she won't become a child of destruction!"

"Everyone has the potential for good and for bad. And Cora is after her," Regina reminded her, shaking her head, "You know firsthand how she can turn the purest of souls to black."

"We won't let that Cora win!" David was adamant.

Regina nodded, Emma still held securely in her arms. "Then, we'll have to find what is her tether, and a way to defeat Mother, because, as I know her, she will come."


End file.
